Spear & Shield

Spear & Shield
Chapter 52

“Saburo, who do we know who makes good curry?”

“... Is that supposed to be a riddle or something?”

The two brothers passed lumber between them, coached on by Yasu in what was proving to be a surprisingly difficult repair. The three Ushi’s wore matching family haori, bearing their family seal proudly on their backs as they worked the day away. The job itself was repairing the exterior of a Nara R&D building, having been ripped to shreds by a fuininjusu gone wrong. There was little that could be salvaged from this particular area of the building, so most of the repair had to be done from scratch.

Jiro had been coerced into labor by his agitated landlord sister. Saburo had nothing better to do. 

It wasn’t so bad. Jiro could think of worse ways to spend his day.

Besides, Saburo and Jiro got along pretty well. Out of all the brothers, Jiro and Saburo were the closest in age, being just over a year apart. And they were both relegated as “disappointments” of the family. 

Saburo had abandoned the family business and fully pursued a shinobi career. While Jiro… Well, Jiro did quite the opposite. Not only did he quit the shinobi life shortly after becoming a genin, but he gave up on working for their father, too. The Ushi’s never spoke of the night Jiro left the village or the heated argument that happened just before he walked out the door. But that night had undoubtedly solidified Jiro’s place as the least-favorite child by Ume and Yasuchika. Which, admittedly, put more pressure on the others; especially Yasu. Not that she blamed her brothers for that. But the family dynamic definitely changed that night.

So considering all that, today was actually pretty nice. It was like old times, when their father forced them out of their beds on weekends to assist on some mundane job, rewarding them with takeout or a cheap allowance.

Which made Saburo say, “Did you want to get curry after this? I know a good place.”

“No, no, no. Well-- actually, yeah. Curry sounds great. But I’m talking about Yasu’s curry.”

“Yasu made curry?”

“No. At least I don’t think so. But she had curry. She was out all night, and came home with curry. And not just any curry, either." Jiro crossed his arms in contemplation, leaning against a support beam, "It was the best curry I’ve ever tasted, Saburo. I don't even like spicy food, but I would do truly horrible things just to taste it again. And I want to know who she got it from.”

Saburo snorted, “She was probably just sick of you loitering around her apartment and spent the night with Megumi and Ichiro.”

“A likely story,” Jiro agreed, “But Megumi-chan-- nothing against her, she’s an angel-- has never cooked curry that tasted like that.”

“So probably Iruka-san, then.”

“Iruka-kun’s culinary skills are limited to instant ramen and takeout. The only proper nutrition he ever received was when Mom shanghaied him to dinner once a week. Hell, she’s the reason half the genin in the village didn’t starve to death.”

Saburo shrugged, agreeing with his brother but still not seeing the importance of the situation. "So ask her. If you want curry that bad, just ask where she got it from."

"I don't just want the curry, dumbass. I want to know who she was with!"

"Why?"

Jiro continued, “Because I think it might’ve been the guy she’s seeing.”

“Gai?”

“Yeah, the guy.”

“Yeah, Gai.”

“No, the guy she’s dating. Her little boyfriend.”

“Yes. Gai.”

“Duh. That guy.”

“No, idiot, Maito Gai. He’s a pretty high-ranking jounin.”

Jiro paused, hammer stuck aloft, “Yasu’s boyfriend is Maito Gai?”

“Yup,” Saburo answered, popping the ‘p’ as he continued to nail the boards in place.

“Like… The Maito Gai? The Green Beast or whatever?”

“Do you know him?”

Jiro looked genuinely nervous, “No, but I’ve heard of him. During my travels… He’s a legend throughout the Elemental Nations. They say he’s incredibly strong. A relentless taijutsu master and an undefeated one-man army…” He turned to Saburo with an uncharacteristically stoic stare, “I wouldn’t have guessed that’s who we’ve been talking about… He’s pretty dangerous, isn’t he? Is it a good idea for Yasu to be seeing him?”

Saburo pondered this statement for a second, comparing Jiro’s rumor-fueled portrait of Gai versus, well, the real Gai. “Everything you’ve heard about him regarding his strength is true, but… Just measure your expectations. You might be caught off-guard when you meet him.”

“Yare-yare,” a tired voice sighed from behind them, “What’s taking so long? I’ve already finished carving the hinge-joints. If you two don’t hurry up with the slats, we won’t get to the siding today.”

Jiro and Saburo shot one another a panicked look, thankful Yasu hadn’t heard what they were saying. 

“Stop nagging,” Saburo quickly recovered, “You sound like Dad. We’re volunteers, you know.”

“Yeah, you can’t use the ‘What am I paying you for?’ card when we aren’t getting paid.”

Yasu huffed, twisting her mouth as she inspected their work. She must have been at least partially satisfied because she said, “I guess I can go check the support beams… But I’m serious. Hurry up, we’re on a schedule. This job needs to be finished by tomorrow.”

Jiro snorted, sarcastically swinging his hammer through the air, “Of course, Yasu-sama. Please forgive our laziness.”

"We're sorry we can't be as efficient and skilled as you, Yasu-sama."

“Just hurry up,” she grumbled before disappearing around the corner and out of earshot, muttering to herself much like their father would.

Saburo let out a relieved sigh before lifting his hammer again. “Trust me, I understand your concerns. I thought it was weird at first, too. But Yasu’s been… I dunno, she’s been happier, I guess. She’s opened up a little. She takes more time for herself. It’s a good thing,” a few more gentle whacks with his hammer had another slat slotted into place, “Besides, she gets a hard enough time from Mom and Dad. We should be supportive. What does curry have to do with it?"

"Because they spent the night together."

The hammer in Saburo’s hand came down so hard that it shattered the wood slat. “What?!”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say!" Jiro groaned, obviously fed up with explaining. "He. Made. The. Curry!” 

Saburo saw red. Of all the jounin in Konoha, he thought he could trust Gai the most. Not for any fraternal or noble reason, really, but rather because Gai was such a massive dork. He literally couldn’t conceptualize anything like that happening with his sister. From what he understood, they just hung out with teenagers, broke things, and sparred. Just because they were two adults in a consenting relationship doesn't mean they--

“I’ll bury him!”

“Now, now. Don’t break out the shovels yet, Saburo,” Jiro snorted, watching his younger brother with amusement. “I don’t think their evening was as eventful as you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, unlike you, I have a lot of experience with ‘sleepovers.’ I also have a lot of experience hiding the evidence of said sleepovers. If things got raunchy, I would know.”

Saburo was silent, lips pressed tightly together as he started punching nails in with only a single swing of his hammer. “I still don’t like it,” he eventually declared. "I didn't mind it at first, but they're moving way too fast."

Jiro shrugged a bit, caught between agreeing with Saburo and rolling his eyes, “Well, if you’re that bothered, there is an easy fix.”

“What do you mean?”

“‘Legendary Taijutsu Master’ or not, Maito Gai doesn’t stand a chance against Mom. We tell her what’s going on, she’ll put Yasu on lock-down and that’ll be that.”

Saburo paused. Originally, he was entirely against the idea of their mother meddling in Yasu’s romantic affairs. But now, he was beginning to reconsider. “No…” he eventually answered, sounding unsure, “No… We shouldn't tell Mom.”

Jiro hummed, “So… Supportive. A united front, right?”

"Yeah… united. But maybe we should talk to Yasu, too.”

"Talking isn't exactly our strong suit."

“It’s either that or shovels."

"... We'll brainstorm. Maybe get Ichiro involved."

Saburo just nodded absently, still gripping his hammed a bit too tightly.

The pair let themselves be silent, each lost in thought as they mindlessly continued their repairs. Saburo’s swings were still a little on the aggressive side, but there were no more lumber casualties. Jiro went back to doing the bare minimum.

“She scares me sometimes.”

“Who? Mom?”

“No, Yasu.”

“Why?”

“I’m waiting for the day she finally snaps. One of us is bound to, my money’s on Yasu. She might go full Uchiha on us.”

“Dude!” Saburo recoiled at his brother’s crass joke. 

“Oh, c’mon!” Jiro groaned, “All the big clans have a few psychos in them. Just ‘cause we’re a civilian family doesn’t make it any different.”

Yasu’s head popped up from around the corner, “Less talking more hammering, please!”

The two rolled their eyes, suddenly very much able to work at a quick pace. “She’s just like Dad,” Jiro muttered with a hint of spite.

“She’s not that bad,” Saburo argued, hammering with a bit more fervor. “Besides, Shiro’s the psycho. Not Yasu.”