chapter 110

[Tayuya]

"I'm sure you would like it," Eiji commented, pointing at her with his chopsticks, an amused smile on his face as he turned his attention back to his food for a moment. "I mean, you like Yuki, don't you?"

"One mutt is enough for me, thank you very much," She replied with a grimace as she looked at her plate. Once more, as she ate, her mind drifted for the smallest bit, wondering why she was in the situation she found herself in. "I don't want to be surrounded by the things. If I can stay away from dog tongues for the rest of my life, it won't be long enough," She muttered, making him chuckle.

To say that Tayuya hadn't expected Eiji's… question, was an understatement. Hell, she'd been fairly sure that he was asexual or aromantic or some shit like that. Those kinds of things seemed to barely register in his mind, as far as she'd seen.

But then she'd gone looking for him when he was late and…

That had happened.

'It's all Bimbo Number Three's fault, I'm sure,' Tayuya accused in her mind as she aggressively all but stabbed a bit of food and shoved it in her mouth.

"Something the matter?" Eiji asked, a corner of his mind pulling up. He'd definitely noticed her slight blush… And now he was making fun of her. God damnit, the day was getting worse and worse. "Didn't know you disliked dogs that much," He commented, as if it was really that what had annoyed her, the asshole.

"Shut up," She grumbled as she continued eating. She was already feeling nervous and self-conscious enough without her face betraying in attempts to turn red. Thank god for the transformation jutsu, because-

"Have I said that you look nice, because you do," He commented, and she felt the heat in her cheeks get worse.

"I don't remember you being this annoying?" She muttered under her breath, as she stuffed more food in her mouth. With some luck, her plate would never be empty, because god, this was all sorts of weird. Eiji didn't do anything other than chuckle at her embarrassed expression before continuing to eat, the absolute asshole.

"The illusion doesn't look bad either," He said then, making her freeze, the chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "I hadn't considered that. You don't have anything that's not ninja related, right?"

"So what? I didn't expect you to go crazy all of sudden," She grumbled, her eyes looking anywhere but at him. "And I don't know if you noticed, asshole, but I'm not a very girly girl."

"I don't know about that," Eiji replied with a half-smile. "But if you aren't having a terrible time as you seem to be, then we could go shopping next time. Get some clothes that aren't for the job. I certainly need some too, as you can see."

Well, that was an accurate statement, Tayuya guessed. She was wearing her usual outfit and had slapped a transformation technique over it all to make it seem like she'd actually worn something that looked half decent for an… outing. No dress though, because she wouldn't be caught dead in one of those. Eiji for his part, hadn't even bothered with an illusion, although he at least had a dark red dress shirt instead of a coat or armor or a plain shirt.

"Awfully presumptuous of you, Fearless Leader," She mumbled. God, what the hell had happened to her. She wasn't one of those civilian girls that got all flustered when asked out. She was not like that. So why the hell was she sitting there, almost unable to look at him and barely able to speak.

Damn it all.

"So, that's a no?" He asked, tilting his head to the side and Tayuya noticed the slight smile he'd worn throughout the whole… date was gone for the first time. It'd always been there since he'd picked her up from the house she stayed at with Jirobo and Kabuto. Sometimes it grew, sometimes it lessened, but it was always there. Now that it wasn't… It looked all sorts of wrong.

He didn't look sad, or angry, or anything. She doubted he'd be, even if she were to go all in with the bitch mode. Eiji wasn't easily angered, and while lately he'd been more easily annoyed, Tayuya was sure he wouldn't react that badly to being rejected.

"I didn't say that," She mumbled again, hating it. Why couldn't she speak like a fucking normal person all of a sudden? What the hell had he done to her?

"Great," He replied, beaming at her. "So, have you thought about dessert? I'll admit, this place's main dishes are much better than the desserts, but they are not bad," He told her, bringing a hand up to his neck in a nervous gesture.

Honestly, Tayuya was unlikely to notice. The food had looked great, but she'd barely gotten a slight feeling of the taste. Her mind was much more preoccupied with… all sorts of nonsense. Which wasn't helped by the fact that she seemed to barely be able to think at all.

She gave him her choice, for once not sounding like a shy idiot, thank God.

However, as he called for the waiter and gave him their choices for dessert, she did her best to put her mind to work. The situation made no sense, but it was happening. It was best that she dealt with it. The problem was that she had no idea how to deal with it. She'd certainly been given no training for this kind of thing.

Worst of all, there was something that she clashed against every time she tried to process it.

"Why?" She asked, managing miraculously to do so with a normal voice for once. Meanwhile, to his credit, Eiji didn't ask what she was asking or answer with something stupidly cliche. Tayuya had half-expected him to say that he liked her ever since he first saw her or something. God, she'd have smacked him for that, consequences be damned.

"Because I think this can work," He said instead, with a shrug. "I mean, you are certainly pretty enough," He added, making Tayuya's face burn once more. The bastard had the nerve to laugh at her for that. "And adorable, gotta add that to the list."

"I'm not-" Tayuya started protesting, before stopping as her voice came more as a shriek instead of something remotely menacing. Fucking damnit, what was happening to her? "So, you just want me for my body, huh? Didn't expect that from you, Fearless Leader," She said instead. Why did it hurt to say that though?

"Not at all," Eiji denied instantly, calmly instead of being insulted. "There are other things I like about you, you know? I don't know how complimenting it would be to tell you that I like your music. I think it does say something about you though, the way you play, what you play, how you play."

Tayuya decided, for once, to keep her mouth shut.

She wanted to hear this.

"Believe it or not, your personality is not completely awful either," Eiji commented, and Tayuya had to wonder how that was supposed to be a compliment. "True, you are annoying and sometimes I wish you could stay silent."

Tayuya's eye twitched at that, especially when he grinned at her.

"But I like that too. The fact that you are always going to be the same. No matter what. If you are in front of a Kage, in front of the most dangerous of Missing nin, with friends or anywhere, you are always going to be the same Tayuya," He said then, his smile turning slightly sad. "I even envy that a bit. I'm always acting differently according to who I am with. And while that's all well and good… It's always tiring. Sometimes I wish I didn't care about that."

Now, Tayuya found that she couldn't say anything.

Not that she knew what she would say anyway.

"So, those are the highlights, I guess," Eiji finished with an unsure shrug that looked completely out of place on him. The waiter chose that moment to come back with their dessert. Tayuya found the food, once more, extremely interesting. Almost as interesting as the way Eiji pushed it around a bit, like he was unsure if he would really eat it. "I didn't scare you into agreeing, did I?" He asked then, out of nowhere.

"Of course not," Tayuya scoffed. She was almost relieved that she could finally go back to feeling somewhat in control. "You are one scary fucker, Fearless Leader, but no way you are scaring me into dating you."

"Huh… that's neat, then," Eiji replied with a smile. And he left it at that. She'd thought he would return her question of why. Why had she agreed to go out with him then?

She'd never tell him, of course.

However, she could think it in the privacy of her mind though.

About how she admired him and the way he'd risen from being just another orphan with no backing to standing at the top of the world. The way he was helping the team, and her, to reach new heights of their own. It was inspiring, even.

Furthermore, there were things related to what he'd said that she appreciated. Music was a big part of who Tayuya was, so the fact that he seemed to love hers so much was important. There was something great about playing something that meant something for her and knowing that there was someone there loving every second of it.

Then there was the way he let her do as she wanted, say what she pleased. Most of the time, at least, but that was more than she'd expected when he recruited her. Much more, honestly. She knew why now, but that did little to diminish her appreciation of the fact.

"Hm," She hummed, halfway through dessert, which had been mostly a silent affair as Eiji left her to her thoughts. Something that she was grateful for, since her mind seemed to be a complete mess. "..." She'd wanted to say something, although, once she'd opened her mouth, she forgot what exactly that had been.

"So, do you have a secret sweet tooth? You seem to be enjoying dessert more than the meal?" Eiji asked after a moment of her struggling with her stupid ass brain to come up with words to spew out.

"It's not as bad as you said," She answered, looking away from him as she took another piece of the cake she'd chosen and put it in her mouth. It was actually pretty damn good.

"Hm, I know a place with better desserts. We can go there next time," Eiji commented. And again, Tayuya found herself unsure of how she felt. Did she want to go on another… date? That one hadn't been awful by any means, but then again, her mind had been barely working through the whole thing… "If you want to go out again, that is."

Did she? That was the question right? She had no idea. They'd talked some, on the way to the restaurant, at the restaurant through the meal and it… hadn't been that bad. It was weird though, and she didn't even know how to even begin to process the whole thing. Now though, she had some answers to her questions. She had a better idea of where they were standing… or where Eiji stood. Her own take on all this was probably the part she was most confused about but…

"I guess…" She started hesitantly, once more acting like a fucking shy idiot. God, she hated that. Why the hell couldn't she stop doing that? "I guess we can see if this works," She finished, looking away.

"Great," He replied, and the smile he gave then seemed to be a lot more meaningful than any she'd seen that night…

Yeah, she guessed she could see where things went.

It couldn't be that bad.

[}-o-{]

[Naruto Uzumaki]

He waited impatiently, sitting at the house's dining table. 'How did Eiji manage?' He had to wonder to himself.

His brother hadn't been one to take many missions when they'd graduated. It had been mostly just training while Naruto went out to do D ranks and later C ranks. The Uzumaki hadn't gotten a taste of what that was like until Eiji went on the mission in which he got Nuibari. Naruto still didn't have all the details on that, but missions weren't something ninja discussed in depth, really. Secret information and all that, he supposed. It sucked but it was what it was.

Then they'd all been tied with the Chuunin Exams and…

And then Eiji seemed to have lost all his time. Naruto barely saw his brother after that. There was always a mission, always a fight, always training to do. He hated it, and he hated that they couldn't even help him train that much. He'd just gotten away from them.

Eiji had always been in a league of his own, at least for almost as long as Naruto had known him. As time passed though, he got further and further away. To the point that the blonde was pretty sure Eiji would kick his ass even if he had the whole power of the Kyubi to back him up.

"As if," The fox grumbled inside him. Naruto took it as a personal victory that the chakra beast didn't throw a tantrum at the 'insult'. He stood by what he thought though. The blonde was sure there were few people that could defeat Eiji now, if at all.

He also knew he couldn't really hold it against him that he wasn't around as much as they both wanted. He was doing all that he was to keep Naruto safe. It was more than a little frustrating to be left in Konoha like he was a fragile thing. It felt… wrong. But how could he complain when his brother was risking his life at every turn so that he could be safe?

What could he do? Run? Escape? Go out to help? No, he couldn't do that. It would throw Eiji's efforts into the trash and waste it all. He couldn't do that to his brother. So, much as he hated it, he'd just sit at home and train. That was something he could do to hopefully improve the situation. Maybe if he got strong enough, he'd be able to do something. Eiji had that Kumo Jinchuriki with him in his missions, maybe he'd take Naruto with them if he got that strong?

Or maybe not, he supposed.

Eiji was too worried about Naruto to bring him along, the blonde knew.

It was… He supposed it should have been frustrating, infuriating even. Instead, it was… nice. Naruto didn't know if it was alright for him to feel that, but he liked having someone worry for him. Someone that cared. It was all that he'd wanted for the longest time, and now he had that. He'd had that for years now and he was pretty sure he'd always be grateful for that.

Still, he wanted to help.

Once more, he did his best to focus on the scrolls in front of him. Eiji had asked for help with seals, and Naruto would be damned if he didn't help his brother with the one thing he'd asked for. The thing was tricky, especially because Eiji hadn't given Naruto many details about what he actually wanted his seal project to do. He could do something with the information he'd been given though.

If only he could just…

'It's no use,' He thought resignedly, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor. If there was something Naruto hated, it was waiting. It just wasn't for him. He had to, he knew, but he didn't have to like it. He still couldn't believe it though…

Eiji had gone out on a date.

Nobody had believed Ino when she told them. Nobody except Shikamaru. The Nara had probably figured it out before Eiji himself did, the smug bastard. The worst part was that he'd won the bet they had going, and wouldn't even use some of that money to buy them food as consolation or something.

Eiji had confirmed it though, and they'd still had a difficult time believing.

It was odd to think of Eiji dating. Mainly because he'd always seemed so… detached from such things. Naruto immediately didn't like how that thought sounded once it crossed his mind. Made it seem like his brother was something other than human. Like he couldn't possibly do something normal.

'Then again, how normal could he be, if he asked out Tayuya of all people?' Naruto wondered to himself. It wasn't that he disliked the girl but… Well, she wasn't exactly easy to get along with, he'd admit, but that wasn't the problem. She had her moments, scarce as they were, but still. If anyone had told him to guess, he'd never have picked her as Eiji's choice for a partner, that's for sure. Then again, he didn't get to see what happened during their missions, so maybe there laid the key to this mystery? Perhaps.

It was what it was though, and Naruto couldn't wait to know how it went.

Hopefully well. Eiji could really use some nice things happening, Naruto knew. The blonde had already known that things were taking a toll on his brother, and had felt powerless to help him. Now though, it was so much worse. He didn't even try to hide how tired he was now, which knowing how Eiji was, said plenty by itself.

Knowing that he had to go on another mission soon didn't help at all, really. How were they supposed to help him relax when there was already something hanging over his head? Thankfully, Eiji himself seemed aware of what was going on and had decided to be the smart guy he was supposed to be and actually try to take some time to rest.

With some luck, that would help him.

Naruto could only hope.

He almost jumped when the door opened.

"Did you at least wash the dishes before just sitting there waiting?" Eiji asked before even entering the room and Naruto narrowed his eyes looking around. Were there wires somewhere that he didn't notice? "Did you?" His brother repeated.

Naruto chuckled nervously, very aware of the things he'd just… left there in the kitchen.

"I guessed as much," Eiji sighed as he entered the dining room. With a quick hand seal, a clone appeared next to him and moved to the other room with a roll of its eyes. "Honestly, I would think you'd have gotten better after living alone."

"Hehe, sorry?" Naruto tried, getting an unimpressed look from his brother. Then, waving the whole thing off with practiced ease the blonde focused on the important stuff. "How did the date go?" He asked, eyes almost shining.

"Eh… It was… something, I guess," Eiji commented, looking unsure which didn't bode well for things. Suddenly Naruto felt very nervous. If things had gone badly… With Eiji as he'd been lately… "It wasn't bad," He added then, probably seeing the blonde's expression, which was very reassuring. "But it was… weird. Different, I guess."

"So, not bad?" Naruto asked, wanting to make sure and feeling as uncertain as his brother seemed to be. Then again, his first date with Hinata had been pretty nice and he hadn't had any doubts regarding that. He supposed he could get it though. It was a bit weird. It was certainly different from what he'd been used to from friendly meetings and such.

"No, not at all," Eiji replied, shaking his head and taking a seat at the table. When he turned towards Naruto he looked… relaxed. "I had a good time, actually, even if it was a little awkward at times. I forgot about everything else that's going on for a bit and just for that it was great. It was like… I was just a somewhat normal boy on a somewhat normal date."

Naruto guessed it made sense for him to put it like that. It couldn't be a completely normal thing with Eiji involved. Even less when his date was Tayuya. Regardless of all that, Naruto was very happy with what he was hearing. A little normality would be good for Eiji, he was sure.

"She even agreed to go on a second date," His brother continued, his grin widening the smallest bit. "Can you believe it? I thought she'd tell me to get lost for sure."

"Are you sure that's a good thing?" Naruto asked, getting an instantaneous response to his joke in the form of a punch to the shoulder. Ouch, Eiji could have held back a little more there.

"Dumbass," He grumbled goodnaturedly.

"Already picking her bad habits? Oh man, we are screwed," Naruto continued, not the least deterred by the threat of physical retribution.

"You are an idiot," Eiji said then, chuckling to himself. Then, his smile turned sad. "Man, I hate that we'll just… go on another mission in a few days. We should probably be training instead of… going on dates."

"But?" Naruto prompted, smart enough to know that there was more to what Eiji was saying.

"But I don't want to," His brother replied, nodding to acknowledge his guess. "Everyone's still training, even Tayuya will be, outside of our dates… If I manage to get a third," He added, his smirk returning for a brief moment. "But I don't want to. I'm tired of all that. I'll do the missions, because I have to. I'll even work on stuff with my clones, because just staying as I am is stupid. But… I want to enjoy myself too."

"I think you once told me that your nindo was "live life to the fullest", right?" Naruto commented, drawing a bitter smile from Eiji.

"I've done a great job of not following that, haven't I?" The boy commented, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I want to enjoy myself while I can."

That sounded entirely too ominous for Naruto's liking, but he didn't think pointing that out was a good idea at the moment. Instead, he hummed and sat there. Eiji seemed to be in his own head, going through things, and Naruto knew there was one thing he could do for certain.

Be there for his brother.

"I'm not being stupid, am I?"

"As someone that knows what that's like. I don't think so," Naruto answered with a grin before they shared a chuckle. "Wanting to live your life isn't a bad thing, Eiji. Nobody can expect you to work all the time and be fine with it. I'm actually rather happy that you seem to be trying to enjoy yourself lately."

"Thanks," Eiji said, sighing as his shoulders relaxed. "I think I needed to hear that."

"Anytime. What are brothers for, right?" Naruto asked, one of his hands moving to his chest where he got a hold of the pendant he'd received so long ago. Eiji, meanwhile, did the same thing with his and the two looked at their necklaces for a long moment.

"Did I ever thank you, Naruto?"

"What for?"

"For inviting me to ramen that day," Eiji said, a smile on his face. "You changed my life that day, you know? Things would have been a lot different if you hadn't, I think. And maybe I wouldn't be this deep into this shit but… But I like how my life turned out. I love the fact that I have brothers and sisters now. I love our group and what we've built together. I love all this so… Thank you, for making it possible."

"You did all this too, Eiji, you idiot," Naruto replied, his own grin turning watery as he tried his best to keep tears at bay. Eiji had been the one to change his life too, after all. And he'd never forget that. "So, let's just say we are even, yeah? Even if I think you've done much more than me."

"I guess that's fair."

"So…" Naruto trailed off, his mind working to find something else to talk about, else the two of them start bawling in the dining room. "Those clones are cool," He blurted out.

Which seemed to throw Eiji into a laughing fit.

"Never change, Naruto. Never change."