Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 20

Three ninja sat at a corner booth in a small tea house, just on the edge of Konoha’s market district. It was obvious they were family, one could tell just by looking at them. They all had the same sharp, warm-brown eyes set into sun-tanned faces. Matching heads of soft brown hair, similar smiles, and nearly identical noses. They jibed at one another but always ended up laughing in a way that was comforting and familiar. 

And while they were rather loud patrons of this fine establishment, not many seemed to be bothered. 

It was a mild afternoon in the middle of the week, and thankfully the few other sparse patrons did not seem to mind the antics of the Ushi family. The food was good enough, the prices were reasonable, and some even found them rather entertaining. To them, was all part of the familial atmosphere.

To the Ushi siblings, it was a place to extort free food.

“So how's working with Dad, Goro?” Yasu asked, taking a sip of tea.

The ten year-old popped another sesame dumpling in his mouth, “Good, I guess.”

“Mom says you're the best assistant he's ever had.”

"I guess."

Yasu rolled her eyes, shoving another plate of dumplings at the kid before turning her attention to the teen next to him. “And how about you, Shiro?”

“‘How about me’ what?” he scoffed, resting his head in his hand and looking as bored as ever. 

Yasu’s mouth twisted in displeasure. She leaned back in the booth and crossed her arms, doing a rather decent impression of their mother. 

“You know, I’m treating you both to lunch. The least you could do is show a little enthusiasm.”

“You’re not treating them!” the man behind the counter jeered, “You bums eat free!”

“Shut up, Ichiro,” Shiro shot back. “You had me washing dishes all weekend, I deserve a free lunch.”

“And I did it last week,” Goro added, another dumpling disappearing down his gullet. 

“And you asked me to serve orders the week before,” Yasu added with a smirk. 

Ichiro regarded his younger siblings with a fond disdain that could only be possessed by the first-born, “Well maybe if you paid for what you ate, I could afford to hire a proper staff.”

“Megumi-chan!” Shiro leaned out of the booth and called into the kitchen, “Ichiro’s bothering us!”

A small, mousey woman popped her head out from beneath the divider curtain. Her eyes were wide with a fierce glare, “Leave the customers alone!” 

Ichiro threw his hands in the air, marching back into the kitchen while shouting, “They’re not customers!”

Yasu grinned at his retreating figure, face alight with a mischievous joy as she swiped a dumpling from Goro.

“Why didn’t you invite Saburo?” the youngest quipped after a moment.

“He had a mission,” she sighed, “Besides that worthless lay-about is always breaking into my apartment and stealing my food. I’m not gonna give him a free meal.”

“You've got to be kidding me!” Ichiro groaned from behind the curtain.

“He came by to talk to Dad the other night,” Shiro continued, blatantly ignoring the grumbles and curses of the eldest brother. “He told us something very interesting.” 

His sing-song tone made Yasu frown. “...Oh yeah?” 

“He says you got a boyfriend,” Goro grinned, fox-like.

Her stomach dropped to the floor. ‘That son of a--!’

Oh. Oh. So this is why Gai froze up when she brought up Tenten’s assumptions. People in her life who she loved and respected speculating about a relationship they know nothing about... No, this was not a very nice feeling at all.

It was one thing having strange genin speculate about her and Gai’s relationship… But it was an entirely different thing when it was her family.

“Did he say this in front of Dad?” she asked too quickly, “In front of Mom?!”

The two younger boys shared a devious grin. “Oh, he might have mentioned something to one of them…” Shiro began.

“Yeah, he told Dad,” Goro finished without respite.

“Does. Mom. Know.” she growled out, practically quaking with a mixture of anger and fear. ‘Saburo, what have you done?!’

“Wait--” Shiro interrupted, tone changing to one of disbelief, “You seriously, actually have a boyfriend?” He was about as grossed out as a sixteen year-old should be at the thought of his older sister’s love life. Yet he couldn’t shake the curiosity, “What kind of lunatic would like you?”

“Hey now,” Ichiro chided, reappearing behind the counter with a serving tray full of food, “That’s not very nice. We should be happy that Yasu’s happy, that’s all.”

“I’m not happy!” she retorted, face flushed red, “I mean-- Saburo’s lying! It’s a misunderstanding, that’s all!” Her fist whacked against the table as she bore down on the younger two, “Now tell me! Does Mom know?”

“No,” Goro whined, hands over his ears to block out all the yelling, “Mom doesn’t know about your stupid boyfriend, calm down.”

Relief flooded Yasu’s body, “Thank the spirits…” she sighed.

Ichiro leaned over the counter closest to their booth, casually resting his chin on his arms, “Ne, are you worried she’ll try and marry you off, Yasu-chan?”

“It’s a stupid misunderstanding,” Yasu sighed again, boldly stabbing the last dumpling with her chopsticks, much to Goro’s dismay, “We’re not dating. We train together-- we’re just friends, that’s all.”

Truthfully, it was a bit of a reprieve that Saburo had been the one to bring up Gai to her parents. While she would have preferred to keep her family and Gai distinctly separate ('At least for the time being,’ her subconscious added), Saburo had roped himself in as a confidant and was just as liable for keeping secrets. If she was going down, she was sure going to take him down, too.

Her brow furrowed, wondering exactly what he had said to her father, and what her father’s reaction was. 

“We’re just friends…” she mumbled, barely realizing she had spoken aloud.

Goro clearly did not care for this topic whatsoever, and left the booth to go find Megumi (and presumably more dumplings).

Shiro looked uncomfortable, yet curious. Ninjas do love their secrets, and here she was, dangling one right in front of him. 

“What’s his name?” Ichiro asked with a hint of mirth, openly prying, “He’s a ninja, isn’t he? Do you think I know him?”

Shiro rolled his eyes, “You’ve been retired longer than you were on active duty.”

“I still know people," Ichiro shot back, indignant.

“We train together,” Yasu’s exasperation was catching up to her, “He’s helping me improve my techniques. That. Is. All.”

Ichiro shrugged, distracted by another customer as they walked in. 

Shiro, however, was not quite convinced. Still, he was smart enough to know when to just drop it. Perhaps he could gather some intel on Yasu's mysterious new companion...

Yasu recognized that look in her little brother's eye, "Drop it, Shiro."

"I just wanna know--"

Thankfully, Goro chose that moment to come ambling out of the kitchen. "Can we get dessert?"