CHAPTER THREE~ NARUTO~ Don’t Cry, Hani. Naruto Loves You.
“Eehhh? A mission? But Baa-san, today’s my day off!” Uzumaki Naruto whined. “That’s not fair! I was going to go out for ramen! I haven’t been able to go out for ramen at all lately! This just isn’t fair…”
Tsunade sighed for the fourteenth time in six minutes. “Naruto.” She said sternly. “You can go for ramen on this mission. You just need to bring along someone.”
“Whaat?! If it’s another bratty rich kid, then no way, nuh-huh! Not happening!” Naruto shot back, making an X mark with his arms. “No thank you! I’m not playing Big Brother to some brat again!”
Tsunade sighed for the fifteenth time. She then smiled. “Hani, your new big brother is here!” she called.
“Niichan?”
It was an adorable child voice. Naruto turned towards the sound.
There stood a little girl, maybe five or six, with brown hair. Bandages covered most of her body. Her blue eyes shined in both awe and curiosity.
Naruto was immediately latched on to her.
Tsunade tried not to laugh. Which, by the way, is a very hard thing to do. “Hani, this is Naruto. He’ll be taking care of you until your Big Brother comes back. Naruto--bring her back here by eight. And no, you can’t have her.”
Naruto pouted, his arms wrapped around the small girl. Hani hugged Naruto back, if questionably.
--
“You’re Hani’s new nii-chan while Big Brother is away?”
Naruto glanced up at Hani, who was now riding his shoulders. “Your big brother?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Who’s your big brother, Hani?”
“Big Brother is Big Brother Neji.” Hani replied.
Naruto was shocked. “Neji? As in, Neji Hyuuga?”
“Uh-huh.” Hani said again, wrapping her arms around Naruto’s neck to get a better grip.
“Big Brother’s on a really long mission. He told Hani not to cry while he was away, so Hani won’t cry.”
Naruto tried not to laugh. Picturing Neji Hyuuga, the most cynical person known to man--or at least to Naruto--as a big brother, just did not compute in his mind. Naruto burst out laughing. “Neji’s your big brother! That’s pretty funny!” Naruto giggled.
“Eh?”
“Naah, nothing, Hani. You wanna go eat some ramen?”
“If Naruto-niichan wants to, then Hani will, too.”
Naruto had to stop at the side of the road and pull Hani into a giant bear hug. “Soooo cute!” he gushed.
--
The ramen at Ichiraku, Naruto noticed, tasted much better with an adorable little girl--especially one who couldn’t use chopsticks properly--who had to be helped in eating the slippery noodles. Naruto didn’t even mind that his ramen got a bit cold.
“Is Naruto-niichan a good boy?”
Naruto nearly spit out his ramen. He swallowed, after a bit of difficulty. “Of course I am!” he exclaimed. “Sure, I might be a bit of a troublemaker, but I’m a good boy at heart!”
Hani looked up at Naruto. “So no one’s ever hit Naruto-niichan before?”
Naruto looked down at Hani, and noticed the bandages again. His cerulean eyes narrowed. “Who hit you?”
Hani looked down, almost shamefully. “Grandpa did.” She said softly. “’cause Hani was a bad girl.”
Naruto could almost feel the nine-tailed fox bubbling inside him. Well, maybe that was a bit over the top, but saying that Naruto was upset was an understatement.
Impulsively, Naruto grabbed Hani into a ferocious bear hug. “You’re not a bad girl, Hani! You’re adorable! I love you so much!”
Hani, taken aback from the sudden hug, burst out into tears. “Bwaaaaa!” she sobbed.
“Oh, Hani, Hani, I’m sorry!” Naruto exclaimed, hugging the little girl tighter. “Hani, Hani, don’t cry! Please!”
Hani sniffed, then looked up at Naruto. “Niichan…?”
Naruto smiled. “Don’t cry, Hani! Naruto loves you very much!”
