3 of 3
that's as far as that one got and then this final one here sigh but amazingly enough this one and the one before kinda have a plot????? which is weird??????
The Sandaime Hokage looked out his window and thought.
The three ANBU members, standing perfectly still--barely even breathing--remained where they were and didn't ask any questions, even though they had been there for over twenty minutes, and their Hokage had yet to move from his position. They were almost worried. Almost.
The one on the far left was the shortest out of all of them, hair done up in a slightly short pale green pony tail on top of her head, dressed in full ANBU gear and was wearing a mask depicting a subtle frog with a thick dark green stripe running up and down it. The one in the middle was the tallest, dressed in a thick coat that covered his entire body. It didn't show anything expect for the owl mask and the ends of his black slippers. The one of the right was right in the middle of their heights, neither too big or too small. Her hair was a chocolate brown and pulled into a loose, long braid that stopped at her back. The only difference in her armor from the other woman was the simple fact that her pants weren't wrapped around her ankles, and her feline mask, that had the corners turned upwards and two pale pink, almost white stripes that almost blended into the mask.
"You're all probably wondering why I've called you here," the Hokage suddenly spoke. They all blinked behind their masks, before turning their attention on him fully. "Naruto's been placed in the hospital after last night's attack."
None of them moved. The Sandaime turned away from the window to sit at his desk. "I see no sign of the villagers stopping their tirade, so I'm increasing his security measures."
He went quiet for a few seconds, before starting up again. "The mission is simple. One of you will be taking him into your home, and protecting him. This is outside of the Elder's knowledge, so you must be extremely secretive."
Still, no-one stepped forward. The Hokage kept his face cold. "I'm leaving it up to you three to decide which one will take him in."
WIthout even moving or talking, they argued their points before the one on the far right trembled, before stepping forward and preforming a quick bow.
"Hai, Hokage-sama. It would be the logical thing for me to take him in. I have the space."
She tried not to send looks over her shoulder to her treacherous friends. "Wonderful. Then it's settled. Koneko-chan, you'll be taking him into your home. You're mission rate will be cut slightly, but we'll be sending you monthly paychecks to cover your extra finances. Does this sound agreeable?" The Hokage questioned. 'Koneko' blinked at the added 'chan' to the end of her name, before nodding. She must have done something right.
"I just become-"
"You become the boys mother. It's up to you whether or not you wish to inform that I gave you this order or not. He'll be awake soon."
Koneko nodded before disappearing in a flash of leaves. The Sandaime looked towards the remaining two. "Now. To discuss your mission…"
-
She really didn't want to do this. She really didn't.
Koneko turned the corner of the hospital's hallway, and entered the smaller room before staring at the bed. Even though she had been told the circumstances surrounding the Yondaime's death and of the sealing when she joined ANBU, she never really got over the fact that the thing that killed her parents was still alive.
She supposed she should relax. Sit down and just…wait for the boy to wake up before doing her mission. The Hokage didn't really elaborate in his office, but she had gotten the gist of it.
Besides. She had no idea how to take care of a kid--especially when she was going to still be away on missions most of the time. She'd have to make that work too. She gently removed the mask from her face, before rubbing it harshly. It didn't make any sense…And her teammates pulled rank before she could even argue that 'I'm only eighteen! I have no idea what he wants! Give him to Kari--she has kids!'
The minute I get back to HQ, I'm asking to go solo, she thought, before leaning back in the chair. The blond laying on the bed seemed almost dead--but without any wounds. It unnerved her. There was still that lingering discomfort.
Without really caring, she sat back. And she waited.
After all, she still had to decide whether or not to be Koneko or Hanae around the boy.
-
It wasn't an incredible dream. Uzumaki Naruto knew this, because he woke up and immediately forgot what had happened in it. All he could really focus on was the fact he was in the hospital. Again.
And there was someone, sitting in the chair, resting their head against the bed.
"Oh," the voice was muffled, but it defiantly came from the body. "You're awake."
And Naruto, being Naruto, flipped. Springing faster than what should be possible, he threw back the covers and pointed a finger towards the resting body and shouted: "Who are you and what are you doing!"
The body groaned, before sitting up, a long brown braid flopping over her shoulder. Her face was still pretty young and unmarked, except for a small scar across her chin and on her cheek. "Eh?" she questioned, blinking.
Naruto kept pointing.
The girl made an 'o' with her mouth before nodding slowly. "Nakasone Hanae. Sorta sleeping. I'm off duty…I guess. I'm guess you're Uzumaki Naruto?"
Naruto stared suspiciously, before stepping closer to her on the bed. "Are you a shinobi?"
'Nakasone Hanae' gave him a lazy thumbs up. "You betcha." She pulled a face. "I don't really know…But…I guess I can say…"
"Say…what."
"Say that I'm ANBU?" she blinked again towards him, before rubbing her eyes. "Sorry. I'm just really out of it. I just came back from a week long mission and haven't really gotten any sleep yet." While that was true, she was trying to get a feel for him first. The main part of her was treating this like it was any other mission--first thing to do? Understand the happenings of your target.
The blond kid cocked his head to the side, before dropping cross-legged onto
the bed. "A mission?"
Hanae nodded sharply. "I can't say anything about it. It's all very classified."
Naruto scoffed. "It doesn't matter to me! I'm going to be Hokage one day, so nothing will be classified for me!"
Hanae cocked her head to the side. "Hokage? That's a very admirable goal," she said slowly. "How do you intend on doing it?"
"I'm going to the academy this year! The old man promised he'd get me in!" he shouted, before jumping off the bed and grabbing his shirt and making face. "Great. It's ruined. Stupid…people…" he trailed off. Hanae felt a pang of sympathy. She felt for him. Every time they ruined a shirt, the Hokage had once explained, he has to worry about if he's going to eat so he can buy another one. At the time, she thought he was just being over-dramatic, but reading over his file confirmed it. Little Naruto really did live a life like that.
"Well," she said, even more slowly. "Are you feeling better?"
Naruto gave her a look. "Why do you care?"
Here came the moment. "Because…" she trailed off and got out of the chair, before kneeling in front of him. He barely came to her waist as it was. "Look. Being in ANBU and being a shinobi means keeping a lot of secrets, right?" she questioned. He nodded. "Well. I can't really say how this is going to happen. But…you're going to be close to me for awhile, if that's okay with you. And you won't have to worry about the 'old man'," she still wanted to know who that was. "getting you into the Academy. I'll take you there and sign you up myself. And we can live together, if you'd like, and I'll buy you some more clothes and all that jazz."
Hanae stood up and grabbed the mask from off the chair. Naruto glared at her suspiciously. "Did the Hokage make you do this? Are you the person he said he was going to send?" he asked.
She glanced at him, before slipping the mask over her face. "In a way. But. If you can trust the Hokage, you can more than trust me."
"I won't trust you just yet," Naruto said flatly. "Not until you give me reason too. A lot of people hate me--but the ANBU have never tried anything--doesn't mean it's not because of the old man."
Was…the old man…the Hokage?
"That's alright with me," she threw over her shoulder. "But I still think I should go buy you some clothes. Think of it this way," she said, before letting him catch up. "We'll be sorta like…roommates. My apartment is pretty big. And if you don't like it, you can tell the Hokage. How's that."
"I'm…okay with it," Naruto said cautiously. "We'll see how it goes."
-
"You really like the color orange," Hanae noted as she slipped a brand new t-shirt over his head. Her last pair of civilian clothes had seen it's last set in the dryer--hence why she kind of wanted to go shopping first. The outfit was nothing new--a simple pale pink dress that came to her knees, a grey cardigan over it and her normal pair of black sandals with her hi-ate slung around her neck, underneath her braid.
Naruto was still flipping through the rack of orange clothes, taking full advantage of the fact that she was buying all of it--not even glancing at the discount rack where she had grabbed her cardigan.
"It's my favorite color," he said under his breath, grabbing an orange t-shirt with a spiral on it. "It just makes me happy."
Hanae leaned against the rack and inspected her nails. They were starting to get too low. "That's fine with me," she said cheerfully. "Buy as much orange as you like, but try to get some black in there too. The academy calls for it."
He looked up at her and blinked, before squirming uncomfortably. "Does the…academy need anything else?"
The woman stared off into space for a second, before ticking it off on her fingers. "A set of kunai, shurikan and sebon needles (though I think they got rid of that last one,) three pairs of slippers, just in case, and just the basic school supplies. Paper, pencils, books, all that."
Naruto still squirmed. Hanae noticed, before bending down to his level. "Naruto," she called softly. "Do you have any of that?"
"I have…some paper," he mumbled under his breath. She nodded and clapped, before standing up.
"We'll just have to go shopping for awhile longer, that's all. Let's cut this short--just grab a bunch of stuff while I grab your 'black'." She moved quickly, grabbing a few black t-shirts off of the rack and turning back and grabbing a couple of green shorts off of the shelf.
Twenty minutes later, they had managed to find an academy 'items' list and made their way out of the weapons shop. "A full set of kunai…" she pressed a finger on the black case of the standard fifty kunai's. "A full set of shurikan…" Naruto held up a matching box. "No needles though…" she trailed off and stared. "That's alright!" she grinned down at him. "Means more money in my wallet. Needles are expensive."
Naruto struggled with the shurikan box, before Hanae picked it up, distracted, and stuck it underneath her arm. "What next?" he asked.
"Regular school supplies," Hanae responded, looking up. "Which isn't that hard. Just a couple of notebooks, pens, a backpack and all that. It seems like they give you your own textbooks at the academy." She gave him a look. "Which means you'll have to keep it in nice condition. If you need to mark notes, let me dig through my closet and find my old ones. They're a little out of date, but it won't hurt to take a pen to those."
"We can get those near the ramen shop, can't we?" he asked. Hanae looked away from the list.
"Are you hungry, Naruto-kun?" she cooed, before laughing at his uncomfortable face at her baby voice. "We can stop and get some food, before heading back to my place and dropping all this off. Do you need to get anything at your place?"
"Just my plants," he said, before giving a scowl in a way only a six year old could. "The rest of the stuff can burn in there."
"No scrolls or anything?" she asked. Naruto shook his head.
"The library won't let me check them out." Hanae made a face.
"I'll have to talk to them about that…" she ground out, before turning into a convince store. "Go pick out which notebooks you like best. Get five, six if you can. I'll get the pens and your eraser and…stuff." She diverted back to the list.
Naruto watched her walk off, avoiding the two other people inside of the semi-small store, before searching the aisles for the notebooks. They weren't that hard to find--propped up against the wall--and they were every different color. Some were thick, and some where thin, with spirals and tape.
He grabbed three oranges ones, and three blue ones, before staring at the one in the far corner. It was the thinest brand of them, but had an awesome design of a dragon breathing fire. He stared at it, before looking at the thick books in his hand and the single thin one.
Would she…would she be mad if he got that one instead? He'd look so cool with it…
"Brat!" someone screeched in his ear. He spun around, dropping one of the notebooks as an older lady swung her broom at him. "Are you trying to steal?!"
Naruto ducked under the swipe, before growling. "I am NOT! I'm not stealing anything!"
"Liar!" she screeched again. "What's in your hands!"
"Notebooks," another voice stressed coldly, before a hand landed on his shoulder. He froze for a second, before looking up and seeing Hanae glaring at the other woman, radiating…something from her entire being. The older lady tensed. "We were going to buy them, but apparently you don't want our business."
Without looking away, Hanae's arm moved, dropping the assortment of pens and miscellaneous items onto the ground. "Come, Naruto. Let's try the other one down the street." The older lady gasped, and made a move to grab her or something, but she moved out of the way.
Naruto followed her lead and let the notebooks slide out of his hands, before she pulled him away and out the door. "Are you alright, Naruto?" she asked once they were outside. They didn't stop. "The nerve of some people, honestly…"
"I'm fine," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."
She paused and looked down at him, before blinking. "Why are you sorry? If anything--I should have made that b-," she winced, "that lady sorry. If she wanted to act like that--we don't need to deal with it. There are plenty of other shops that will have a better attitude."
Hanae, Naruto noted quietly, was breathing hard, her hi-ate rising and bouncing on her neck with every step. "I'm still sorry."
"Just-" she cut herself off and turned towards him. "Don't ever be sorry for things you never did, alright? People are just…really single minded. I used to be like that too…" she trailed off as he looked at her. "But…I got better," she finished firmly.
"Hey…" Naruto said softly as she looked at him. "Can I get…Can I get an extra notebook? With a dragon on it or something?"
Hanae blinked. "What, you think I'd turn you down if you asked for something simple like that?" she laughed. "If you find an extra notebook you like, don't even worry about it, alright?"
"Can I get some candy too? And some ramen?"
She pulled a face, before standing in front of the other store. "Well, I have no objection to the candy…but not a lot and not all the time. And we'll get some ramen for lunch, how's that sound?"
Naruto grinned, and rushed forward.
Hanae wondered if this was going to be their relationship from now on.
-
"Ne, Naruto-kun, when were you born?"
Naruto peeked over the counter, to stare at the pen in her hand and the form on the desk. "October 10th. Didn't you know that?"
Hanae shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe I just wanted to ask." He gave her a suspicious stare before shrugging the backpack back over his shoulder. He had insisted on wearing on it everywhere--even to watch her train in the middle of the grounds. He 'had to break it in' he had gave for explanation. Hanae nodded. Kids…did stuff like that right?
Naruto leaned against her leg, before yawning wildly--making Hanae laugh. She had started getting him up earlier and earlier so that he could get used to the six o' clock schedule that the academy was going to need, before going over some basic studies.
True to the Hokage's word, she had only gone on two missions for the past two months and there was a small check in her mailbox every two weeks. Naruto did surprisingly well on his own when she was gone for two days on her mission. He asked a lot of questions though, and she resorted to making up some things to keep him occupied.
"Hanae-chan," he said, poking her leg. She looked down. "When were you born?"
"Why I was born October 10th as well, Naruto-kun? Didn't you know that?" she gave him a wide smile before wincing. He had grabbed a piece of skin in-between two fingers and twisted it. "Okay, okay! April 27th, alright? I'm going to be nineteen when you're seven. Happy?"
He gave a sharp nod, before turning towards the hallway. "Can I go explore?"
Hanae, still preoccupied with the form, gave an unintelligible sound and waved towards the hallway. "Don't bother anyone, alright?"
"Hai," he said quickly, before turning towards the hallway. The place was nearly empty--because they had decided to stop by during lunch time. Only a few classrooms were open and he took his time memorizing his way to each one--where their cubbies were, which seat had the best view, all that.
"Are you lost?" someone asked, as Naruto spun around from the window and almost fell against the chair. It was a younger man, hair pulled back into a short pony tail with a scar running over his nose. He looked mildly put off.
Naruto shook his head. "I was just looking."
The man--or was it teenager--was still looking at him suspiciously, but saw that no harm had been done to the classroom. "Who are you?"
"U-Nakasone Naruto," he changed his last name quickly, wondering if this man/boy was like the rest. "I'm going to be starting class here soon."
"Oh?" the teenager said as he set his pile of papers on the desk. "Are you starting the fall classes with the first class?"
Naruto nodded, before taking a step towards the door. "Yeah. Han-My, uh, kaa-san is signing me up right now. I better get back."
"Well," the man said, before shuffling through his papers. "I'm Umino Iruka, alright? It was nice to meet you Nakasone-san. I'm going to be a teacher student so maybe I'll see more of you?"
"Y-yeah. Maybe."
Before the man could say anything else, Naruto started to sprint back towards the office. Hanae looked up from the form, before rubbing her temple. "Are you allergic to anything?" she questioned, sounding mildly frustrated. Naruto shook his head.
She made a quick, grateful, amen sign towards the ceiling before heading back to the form. "Alright. I'm all done. You had fun?"
"I found out which classroom I'll probably be in," Naruto replied, grabbing onto her dress. "You're gonna drop me off and pick me up, right?"
She made a face. "I can't promise I'll be there to do that every single time, but I'll defiantly make it to all your special events. Field days, bring your parent day, and defiantly your first and last day." She sent him a sly wink. "How's that sound."
"Bring your parent day?" Naruto questioned, before dragging her out of the office and onto the playground. He hopped on the wooden swing and made a struggling effort, before she stood behind him and pushed.
"You're got to swing your legs. And it's just a day when your bring your parent to school with you. I only got to do it once, with my parents, but it was a lot of fun. I'll just sit next to you and see what you get to do in school, and have recess and lunch with you," she explained, going into lecture mode.
"What if I don't make any friends?" he said quietly, his legs stopping their movement. Hanae blinked.
"Why would you worry about that?"
"I don't have any friends right now," he said, as if it was obvious. She winced slightly.
"That's part of school, you know. Making friends? And there are plenty of people that like you. If you'd like, I could get some people to meet up and play with you." She tapped her finger. "I once went on a mission with a Nara…I think he had a son…"
Naruto gave her a raised eyebrow, before shutting his eyes and crossing his arms. "And what if I'm not good with my grades?"
"That doesn't matter much to me," Hanae said dismissively. "But if you want to graduate and you're not doing so well, it won't kill me to tutor you a little."
He stared at her over his shoulder. "…you've got an answer for everything don't you."
"I don't have an answer for why I'm scared of cutting my hair," she said without missing a beat. "I really don't. I just trust in the fact that you'll do fine."
She froze lightly, before looking up and scowling. "Alright. Well, I better get you home."
"Mission?" Naruto questioned, slightly excited. She gave a quick nod.
"I need to pay the rent somehow."
-
Instant ramen was a boy's best friend. Naruto peeled back the lid and took a whiff of the beefy smell, before digging in. The cupboard behind him was filled with every different type of instant ramen that Hanae could shove into her cart before she left. She was always paranoid he wouldn't have enough food or something when he left for her missions--but he really didn't see the point. The longest she had been away was for a week, and he had spent that running around Konoha and visiting the old man. He was expecting her back today, tonight at the latest.
Naruto's eyes strayed over to the separate table that was organized for bills and other stuff like that. In the corner, there sat his backpack, filled with everything that he needed when his first day came around.
He leaned back in his chair and sipped the remaining broth.
She'd be back. He just had to wait awhile.
-
She hadn't come back yet.
It registered in his mind when he realized that his door was always closed, and Hanae-chan had an annoying habit of checking on him and not closing the door like he wanted. Springing out of his bed, he climbed on the desk in the hallway and checked the calendar, staring at the second monday of the month, circled at least a dozen times with 'First Day!' written around it.
It was in six days.
He crossed off the tuesday off of it and jumped off the table, before staring at the undisturbed table.
He shouldn't worry, he told himself. She's probably just late. She gets late a lot.
-
She still hadn't come back yet.
Naruto pulled himself out of bed, crossed off the next day and pulled new clothes on before checking for the key that was secured around his neck. Shoving his hands into the green short's pockets, he left the apartment and headed towards the Hokage's office.
Without even really worrying about the secretary (she would have stopped him if something important was going on,) he slipped into the office.
"Ah, Naruto-kun." The Sandaime noticed the boys slightly troubled expression. "What's wrong?"
Naruto pulled himself into the chair in front of the desk, before resting his head in his folded hands. "Hanae said she'd be back two days ago."
Sarutobi kept his face in the same smile. "I'm sure something just came up. She can more than handle herself--and she's not alone."
"Yeah, but…" Naruto trailed off, before swinging his legs. "She said she'd make it back before I go to school, so she could take me."
The older man set down his pen and stood up. "I assure you. She can take care of herself. Who knows? Maybe she'll be back today? Why don't you go to the park and play a little bit?"
Naruto nodded, before giving him a wide smile. "You're right, old man! She defeated an entire dragon once, right?! I don't have to worry at all!"
Without noticing the Hokage's confused expression, the blond took off towards the door and didn't stop until he was at the park.
Sarutobi decided he'd just ask Nakasone-san herself about the dragon.
-
Naruto's eyes flew open at the familiar creak his door made, pushing himself into the covers more before looking at the dark figure, glancing through the door. The figure left. The door stayed open.
The kitchen light came on.
Without even pausing, Naruto jumped out of bed and made his way into the kitchen. There, sitting in a chair with her leg propped up on the table, was Hanae, pulling off a red stained bandage from around her stomach. She froze suddenly, before looking over her shoulder and looking at him.
Her mask gave him a cruel grin, making him freeze, before her hands went up and slipped it off. Instead of the scary looking figure, a tired face greeted him with a small smile.
"Uh," she said, as if realizing something. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping? If I recall, someone's starting school tomorrow."
He walked up to her and poked her in the arm. "You almost didn't make it."
"But, I did," she said without skipping a beat, giving him a lopsided smile. "I would have been here around lunch, if I didn't have to make a report and stop at the hospital."
Naruto stared at the still blossoming stain on the white bandage, underneath the chest plate. "What happened?"
She stared at him for a second, before nodding. "Dragons. They came up and surprised me when I was on my mission. One of them managed to get me near my ribs. But it's all good."
"Really?" he said, crouching down and staring at it, before poking it lightly. She bit back the hiss. "That looks like it hurts."
"You betcha. And it does. I'll be able to getcha to class just like we planned." She made a shooing gesture. "But it won't work so well if you don't get to bed. I'm just going to take a shower and re-do this bandage before turning in myself."
Naruto turned on his heel and went into his room. "Are you going to wake me up?"
She made a 'well, duh,' expression before pushing him into his room. "Sleep. Seriously."
Before he could even crawl into bed, he was out.
-
Hanae woke up before the alarm went off, letting her hand land on it so it would go back to sleep.
She rolled over, before jumping back and scooting away from the bright blue eyes staring at her.
"Uh," she said, blinking and fumbling with her outstretched hand to open up the blinds. "Excited?"
"I got up ten minutes ago. Get up. Get up, get up, GET UP." Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the bed, watching impatiently as she struggled to get out of the covers and not tear open her stomach again.
"Just go get dressed," Hanae yawned, before crawling into the bathroom and brushing her teeth.
"I'm already dressed."
Hanae paused and looked down, blinking at the brand new green shorts and white and orange shirt. "That you are. Why don't you go check over your backpack one more time. Maybe put some toast in so I can start walking straight?"
Naruto gave a quick nod, before taking off into the kitchen to do what she had prescribed. Hanae finished with her teeth, before combing back her hair and letting it hang loose and getting dressed.
She was fixing her hi-ate when she walked into the kitchen, blinking at the toast on a plate with jam, while Naruto drunk the last of his cereal. "You do realize we have almost an hour and a half to go before school starts?"
"So?"
Hanae nodded slowly. "Okay. Let's just…take our time eating. I wasn't expecting you to get ready so quickly. We'll head out at seven, alright? Can you last another thirty minutes?"
Naruto nodded, before dumping his bowl in the sink and jumping into his room.
"Hey! Naruto!" she called, still munching on her toast. "Did you water all the plants?"
There was a small crash as she gave sigh, before watching him bounce out and fill up the watering can. The entire apartment was littered with the green plants, all with different names on them. Naruto took really good care of them, but sometimes, in a hurry, he'd forget some of the ones that weren't in his immediate line of sight. Like the several flowers in her room that he insisted on getting.
He made his way around every room, watering them quickly as she leaned back and massaged her side lightly.
The clock ticked, and ticked and ticked, before he put the watering can away and smiled towards her. "All done."
Hanae grinned, before gesturing to the clock. "And not a moment too soon. Get everything on and we'll go."
It took him a total of three seconds to slip on his sandals and throw his backpack over his shoulders, before she ushered him out the door and down towards the school.
The grounds were crowded with kids, all ushering their parents away, and some doing the exact opposite. Hanae picked Naruto up and placed him on her shoulder, before he pointed the direction of the sign-in booth.
He was still on her shoulder when she signed in and set him down, before going to stand near the swing. Her face was attentive to Naruto's babbling, even though she could hear some…less pleasant things coming from some of the other parents.
Hanae wondered what would have happened if Naruto didn't have her--to keep him out of trouble and easy some of the more…volatile situations. She had been over to a dozen peoples house, Naruto tagging along as he was on his best behavior. Really, all a person had to do was get to know him before falling into love with those cheeks of his.
Without thinking, she reached down and grabbed one, pinching it and rubbing it in between her fingers. Naruto stopped talking and gave her disturbed look before she leaned down.
"Don't listen to anything mean, alright? Stick with the people you know and just have fun. You have everything you need, so don't listen to anyone else about all that." Hanae nodded, before pressing her forehead against his. "I know that sometimes it'll be really hard to ignore some of the things people say, but if you just remember that there are people like the Hokage and me who, you know," she coughed, "love you and all that, you'll be just fine."
Naruto stared at her. "…was that your pep talk?"
"Yes!" she said, before turning her head away. "And it was a damn good one alright?! Just…get in there!"
The boy held up his hands, before taking off towards the building. Her eyes scanned the crowd, before landing on a family, all dark haired and dark eyed. Her smile brightened, before she made her way over.
"Good morning, Itachi-kun," she said, grinning at his frown at the added honorific. "And how are you today?"
He nodded slowly. "Well, Nakasone-taicho. You?"
"Super!" she said quickly. "Just dropped Naruto-kun off." Hanae blinked towards the small boy, hiding behind Itachi's legs--trying to ignore the stares his parents were giving her. "And who's this?"
"My little brother," Itachi introduced, stepping out of the way so that the shorter version of him could see her wink. "Sasuke, say hello."
"H-hello," the boy stuttered. Hanae smiled.
"Is it your first day, Sasuke-kun?" she questioned. He nodded. "It's my…" she struggled for a word, "…son…?" she tried, "Yeah, it's my son's first day too. If you ever feel lonely, feel free to go talk to him, alright? He's the one with the wacky yellow hair."
Sasuke blinked, before looking up at his older brother, who nodded. "Where…where is he?"
Hanae smiled. "He just ran inside. You can still catch him, if you hurry. Just say that Hanae sent you over, alright?"
The young boy nodded, before detaching himself from his brother's legs and hurrying after the blond head of hair. Hanae stood up to full height, before giving Itachi a small grin, and resisting the urge to pat him on his head. He was just so…short!
"Are you going to the review?" she questioned, vaguely, cocking her head to the side.
"Hai, Nakasone-taicho."
Hanae threw her head to the other side. "Hanae's fine, you know."
"Hai, Hanae-taicho."
"It's as good as it gets, I'm sure. Well," she looked at the sun. "I better go. I've still got a lot of things to do today. See you later, Itachi." She bowed towards his parents before running off. They were still staring at her till she turned the corner.
Once she was free, she bit her lip harshly and grabbed the area around her stomach. Another stop to the hospital then.
She really hoped this wasn't how all Naruto's 'special' days were going to go.