Chapter 3
“Come on, Isa-nii’s gonna be here any minute!” Sakura shouts as she pulls Naruto’s lagging form behind her.
There’s a tug on her hand and Sakura stops, twisting to look at her brother. His head is down, and his free hand curls into a fist.
After only a few days of having Naruto in her family, Sakura has become a bit of an expert on her brother’s tells. She’s always been observant, preferring to blend into the crowd and watch others rather than participate herself. From watching people, she’s learned that adults don’t mean what they say all the time, and that sometimes she can figure out what they want from how they move and look. Her skills have become surprisingly important in her relationship with Naruto.
She’s compiled her observations into a list:
1. Sometimes he goes quiet when they’re around others. Especially when those people are adults. (Whenever he goes silent, Sakura makes sure to hold his hand extra tight.)
2. His loudest moments are when he’s really feeling the saddest. (This, she had been most surprised by. It’s such a different reaction from her own, that instead of crying and hiding, when Naruto was upset he would smile brighter and laugh even harder.)
3. When Naruto was feeling anxious or uncomfortable, he would clench his fists, as if readying for a fight.
Sakura had begun to unconsciously mirror his gestures in her own body, and found that curling her fingers into her palms steadied her. The feeling of clenched fists was grounding, and it had the bonus effect of making her seem bigger and scarier. Whenever she caught someone looking at Naruto with that burning look in their eyes, she would fist her hands and glare them down until they backed away. There was always a glimmer of fear in those eyes as they stared at Naruto and that made Sakura even angrier.
What right do they have to be afraid of him when all he’s ever done is be kind?? What right do they have to spit on my little brother and tell him he’s a monster as if he would ever hurt anyone?
Right now, though, she doesn’t know what could be making him uncomfortable.
“Otouto?” She asks, leading him over to the wall and sitting down. “What is it?”
Naruto opens his mouth, hesitates, and closes it again, shaking his head.
“It’s nothing Sakura-chan. I’m ready now,” He smiles bright and starts to stand up.
“Oh no, you’re not. Sit back down,” Sakura tugs on his shirt. She isn’t quite used to playing this role yet, of the older sister caring for the scared brother, but she does her best and thinks about what Isa-nii would do if he were here. Isa-nii. It doesn’t make sense, but Sakura can’t think of anything else that could be bothering Naruto. “Is it Isa-nii?”
Naruto’s eyes shimmer and he ducks his head between his knees, furiously refusing to meet Sakura’s eyes.
“What if – What if he doesn’t like me?” Each word is punctuated with a shake of his body, and Naruto sniffles. “They always say that I’m a, I’m a monster and that I shouldn’t – ” sniff “That I’ll always be alone and I’m cursed and – ” He finally looks up at Sakura. “What if they’re right and then if your brother doesn’t want me I can’t be in your family and then I won’t have you either and – ”
Naruto’s words are stopped when Sakura pulls him into her arms.
“That won’t happen,” she says fiercely, hands tangled in his golden hair. “I won’t let that happen.”
Naruto’s “promise?” is muffled by her shoulder and anger rises in Sakura, something big and wild and how can he still be so scared and how can people be so mean and I won’t let anyone make him feel this way ever again.
Instead she says, “I promise.” It isn’t until Naruto lets out a protesting squeak that she realizes her hands have turned to fists in Naruto’s hair and she’s pulling on his scalp.
Sakura quickly lets go and stands, offering her hand in peace. As Naruto grabs onto it, she yanks him close and rubs a fist on his head, an apology for the abuse.
“Besides, Isa-nii isn’t like everyone else. He’s good,” she says meaningfully, and hopes Naruto understands. She can’t quite explain the goodness of Isa-nii, something that she just knows in the same way she knows the sun will rise in the morning and that Eiko-san likes to pretend she doesn’t have any cookies but will slip her one with a wink once they’re alone.
Naruto squints up at her and then grins, tear tracks glistening in the morning light.
“Okay,” he says, and bounds off in the direction of the Gate. “I’ll see him first!”
Sakura laughs and feels the tense grip around her chest relax. “You wish!” She calls back and gives chase, feeling like a bird given flight from a small cage.
Naruto gets to the Gate before her but it’s Sakura who sees Isa-nii first, his walk achingly familiar.
“Isa-nii!” Sakura barrels into her older brother, arms wrapping tightly around his legs.
He lets out a whoop as he lifts her and tosses her into the air, catching her as she shrieks in delight.
“Little!” Isamu grins at Sakura as he puts her down, ruffling her hair. She lets him get away with it, caught up in the euphoria of seeing her brother again. His grin quickly turns to a frown and he eyes her suspiciously, his hand flattening on her head and moving towards his body. It lands right above his hips and he gasps.
“I knew it! You’ve been growing without my permission! Who authorized you to get this tall, young lady?” He puts his hands on his hips and tries to frown sternly. It doesn’t work with his face and twists back up to a smile.
Sakura huffs but, like Isa-nii, finds herself unable to erase her smile.
“Hi,” a quiet voice says from behind Sakura.
“Oh!” Sakura steps back from Isa-nii and holds her hand out for Naruto. “This is Naruto,” she says when he takes her hand, gripping tightly. “He likes flowers, he’s four like me, and he’s my brother too.” She finishes with an upward tilt of her chin, and tries to tell Isamu with her eyes that this is important and nonnegotiable.
But he’s not looking at her and has squatted down to meet Naruto’s eyes.
“Naruto, huh?” Naruto’s expression wavers before he tucks his lips in and gives Isamu a determined nod. Isamu sticks his hand out and shakes Naruto’s hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Naruto. I’m Isamu, Sakura’s big brother. You know what that means, right?”
Naruto’s eyebrows pinch together in an expression of confusion. “. . .No?”
Isamu’s face melts into a grin and, in a quick movement, uses his hand to tug Naruto in under his arm.
“That means you’re my little brother too,” he says, lightly rubbing Naruto’s head with his other hand, in much the same way Sakura had before.
Sakura sees Naruto’s eyes widen. His mouth opens and closes again. He seems afraid to speak, as if doing so would wake him up from this reality.
When it becomes clear that he won’t be moving anytime soon, Sakura chimes in.
“Naruto’s going to be the Hag-ag-lay when he’s older!”
Isa-nii looks at her, amusement running in his eyes.
“Hokage?” He asks.
Sakura sticks her tongue out at him. “That’s what I said,”
Isamu nudges Naruto. “Hokage of Konohagakure, huh? You wanna be a shinobi?”
Shaken out of his trance, Naruto frowns. “. . .shinobi?”
“The Hokage is the village leader, but he’s also the strongest shinobi in Konoha.” Isamu explains. “He has to be, so he can protect all of us if someone comes to hurt us.”
Naruto’s eyes light up and his mouth forms an ‘o’.
“I know that!” He grins. “I’m gonna be the strongest shinobi ever! Believe it!”
Isa-nii’s mouth twitches, like he wants to laugh, but he doesn’t. Instead he says, “I believe it. It will take a lot of time and hard work. But it’s clear that you have it in you.”
Naruto looks down, face flushed a deep red and lips pulled up in a shy smile. The blush spreads down to his neck as Isamu squeezes his shoulder.
Sakura giggles at Naruto’s face. She’s never thought much about the future, always tied up in the now. But she promised herself that she would never leave Naruto behind, and if he’s going to be the one protecting the village, then who will keep him safe?
She has a feeling that Naruto wouldn’t like being told that she wants to protect him, so she says:
“I wanna be a shinobi too! I’m gonna help Otouto keep those bad guys away!” And she curls her hands into fists and snaps her arms out in front of her, like she’s punching someone.
Naruto grins and says, loud and happy, “Yeah! No one can beat us when we’re together!”
Isamu laughs.
“If you two are going to be shinobi, you have to go to the Ninja Academy.”
“That’s so cool!” Naruto enthuses, jumping up and down.
Naruto’s energy makes Sakura giddy and she chases after him, laughing, “If you’re gonna be the Hokage, you gotta be faster than me!”
OoO
When they tell Katashi-san that they want to be ninjas, the old caretaker sternly tells them that it’s not a decision to be made thoughtlessly. Sakura holds her ground and Naruto’s hand and repeats herself. Katashi-san’s face drops into an odd expression that Sakura had never seen on her. Before Sakura can wonder about the strange look, Katashi-san sends them off to do dishes, even though Naruto’s washing night is the next day and Sakura had cleaned them that morning.
Time passes quickly after that. Sakura grows tired of Naruto coming to bed at night with more bruises than he woke up with. The next time she hears a sneering voice, she walks up to the boy and punches him in the easiest-to-reach spot - his knee - as hard as she can. Her strength must be more than she realizes because she feels something shift under her fist and the boy falls to the ground. After that, people mostly leave them alone. Naruto grows less jumpy at corners and his smiles begin to feel real more often than not.
Because neither of them have friends, apart from Isamu, Sakura and Naruto spend most of their time together. They play tag in the morning and care for the garden in the afternoon, and when it finally gets warm outside, they’re allowed to go outside of the Gates and explore the forests. Whenever Isamu comes around, they’re eager to show him their latest discoveries from their adventures. Isamu always has something interesting to add and teach them, and with his help, Sakura and Naruto become experts at climbing trees.
The leaves change from green to orange and fall on the ground. They're replaced with crystals of frozen water, and the branches of the trees glimmer proudly in the sun's faint light. Naruto goes outside one day and comes back in, red-cheeked and excited. He brings Sakura to the garden where she sees the soft white snow that fell overnight and now blankets Konoha in a chilled hug. Eventually, the snow melts and the birds return from their yearly migration. Sakura's birthday passes again, but she's too busy playing with Naruto to notice it this time around.
A few months after Sakura turns six, she’s moved out of the House with Naruto. They’re brought to an old building and given a key – apparently, when they begin training at the Ninja Academy, they’ll be expected to take care of themselves. The apartment building is a rickety old thing, with missing shingles on the roof and some odd-shaped windows that may just be holes.
The caretakers explain to them that they’ll receive a weekly allowance to pay for food, clothes, and supplies.
Isamu helps them move into the apartment.
It’s small with only four rooms: a kitchen that opens to the living room, one bedroom, and a bathroom. The pipes in the bathroom creak when the toilet flushes, and the shower water has only two temperatures - burning hot and icy cold. The bedroom is slightly larger than the bathroom and has two futons, which Naruto and Sakura eagerly push together. There’s very little closet space and only one bureau but Sakura doesn’t mind - they don’t have many clothes anyways. The kitchen and living room have mold growing on the walls, and Sakura almost steps on a rat when she first enters their new home.
But the windows in the living room are big and face east, with a beautiful view of the street. They don’t have any garden space like back at the House, but the sun comes in bright through the windows and Naruto and Sakura make enthusiastic plans for a little indoor garden.
Naruto thinks that the person in the apartment next to them is a ghost, and Sakura’s not convinced that he’s wrong, with the groaning and murmurs that come from the wall.
Excitement keeps Sakura and Naruto up their first night. They spend the time exploring every inch of their home - of which there are very few - and settle down in front of the windows. Leaning up against each other, they watch the nightlife of Konoha spark to life and exchange whispers about the future.