"Naruto!"

Naruto's shoulders tensed and he scowled.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" the old woman scolded down the hall. He hated the woman's voice almost as much as the woman it belonged to. She yelled at him every chance she could. Her bony, wrinkled hand grabbed Naruto's shoulder and forced him to turn around and look at her.

The woman, named Mujihi-san, was in her 70's but, to Naruto, she seemed more like a 500-year-old hag. He often made a point of telling her this, which resulted in some sort of physical punishment.

"You too lazy to make your bed, or do you enjoy torturing me?"

"The second one," he responded.

She sneered at him, "People want children who clean up after themselves. No one wants a lazy smart aleck. You don't get that through that thick head of yours, you'll never be adopted." Naruto crossed his arms and glared at the stone-faced woman.

Naruto's punishment was 'minor' for his back talk and refusal to make his bed. He had to clean the boy's bathroom with a toothbrush. It was either that or he'd have to sit in time out for hours. Once when he chose that once, he did nothing but cry until Hashira came in. Being left alone with nothing to do but think about Mujihi's comments was the worse punishment he could think of.

"What's wrong with you? All the other children are so well behaved. They will surely get adopted soon enough."

"Oh, you're still here? What a surprise. I guess I'll have to deal with you until you're old enough to get kicked out."

Her words echoed in his mind, though she was not there. His vision warped from the tears he was trying to hold in but as Naruto scrubbed, his tears mixed with the soapy water on the floor. He heard the door open and quickly wiped his face on his sleeve. He didn't want Mujihi to see him cry but when he looked up, he saw Hashira standing there smiling with her hands on her hips. Hashira was one of the caretakers at Konoha's "Loving Arms" Orphanage but she was nothing like Mujihi. To Naruto, she had the only loving arms that he ever knew, aside from Iruka's that is.

"You sure have a way with Mujihi-san, don't you? What are you in for this time?" She paused and got down to look into Naruto's eyes. He turned away but that gave him away as much as his red, puffy eyes would have.

"Naruto-chan, have you been crying?"

"No, I wasn't!" She raised an eyebrow.

"Don't try the tough guy act. It won't work on me. Now what's wrong?" Naruto looked away, without answering. Hashira kneeled down.

"Was it something Mujihi-san said?" Naruto nodded. Hashira put her hand on his head and stroked his hair. He didn't want to talk about it, so he changed the subject.

"I miss Iruka." But that was an equally sad subject and he started crying again. Hashira wrapped her arms around the tiny child. Naruto nuzzled her as he wept. She wished with all her heart that she could save all the children there, especially Naruto, from the pain they had to face. He had it rougher than most kids, who learned to adapt to making friends and seeing them be adopted. Naruto could not adjust. He had been there since he was a baby, and in all that time only made one friend, Iruka. Although he was 14, over double Naruto's age, they were inseparable, until last month, when Iruka had been adopted. Iruka still visited frequently, but Naruto was alone. As a result, he changed drastically. He crawled into his shell and became more disagreeable. Hashira knew he was upset that Iruka had left, but she also felt that he was angry for not being adopted himself. She tried to help him, but on the playground, she was powerless and she knew it.

"Iruka will be here on Monday," she said in a soothing voice. Naruto took a deep breath and sighed.

"I know. I just wish he was here now." She ran her fingers through his hair.

"He will be soon enough." Naruto hoped "soon enough" would come quick. "Now, as for Mujihi-san, she won't bother you if you stay out of her way. Try to meet her halfway, and you may actually see a nice side to her. Now," she said as she pulled out two sponges, "shall we finish cleaning?"

About a half hour later, Naruto was finished cleaning the bathroom. He walked out to tell Mujihi that he was done. He glanced down each of the hallways first to make sure she wasn't around. When the coast was clear, he told Hashira. She wasn't supposed to help him when he got punished, and if Mujihi-san ever found out, she'd get in trouble. She flashed Naruto a smile as she ran down the hall. Naruto turned the opposite way and took his time walking to Mujihi's office, so she wouldn't question how he finished the chore so quickly. The sunlight poured through the windows along the hall. He looked into the light outside and knew Monday would come soon.

The weekend did pass by fairly quickly. Naruto avoided Mujihi by looking at old manga and drawing comics. In his comic, he was a superhero who had a talking fox (Naruto's favorite animal). In one chapter, he had to defeat his arch-nemesis, the Monstrous Mujihi, who had an evil plot to devour the city with her black hole mouth. Naruto wins, of course, and his fox, Kyuubi, eat Mujihi. Everyone in the city loved Naruto, and he became king. When Naruto showed it to Hashira, she laughed at his illustration of "The Monstrous Mujihi".

"I'm afraid I'll have to take this away, Naruto."

"What??"

"Just the pages with Mujihi-san in them. You would be in huge trouble if she ever found these."

Naruto was sulking, so she leaned in and whispered, "I'll keep these in my desk. I'll look at them when Mujihi-san yells at me and laugh. And you can ask me whenever you want to look at them." She smirked and Naruto grinned. It was nice knowing that she thought they were funny.

When Monday finally came, he awoke to Iruka's gentle shake. Naruto grumbled until he opened his eyes and saw his brother's bright eyes and warm smile. He bolted upright, threw the covers off, and leapt into Iruka's arms with such force; he nearly knocked Iruka to the ground.

"I'm glad to see you, too." Iruka wrapped his arms around his little brother.

"Good morning, niisan."

"Good morning, Naruto-chan. Still sleeping late, I see. Did you stay up late last night?"

"Yeah," Naruto pulled away and dug beneath the bed to grab the scrambled papers. "Because I was making this!" He handed Iruka his comic and, as his oniisan read it, Naruto anticipated Iruka's response. When Iruka finished reading, he looked at Naruto with pride.

"This is really good. Would you mind if we went to the library? I want to copy them."

"Really?" Naruto's eyes shone with joy. Iruka nodded. "So are we going to the library today?"

"Yes, but that isn't the only place…"

"Where else? Where else??"

"You'll find out when we get there." No sooner did Iruka say those words, Naruto jumped off the bed and five minutes later, he was dressed, his hair was combed, and his teeth brushed. Iruka didn't think it was possible for Naruto to be ready so fast. Iruka and Naruto went to the front desk and signed out.

As they walked out the front door, the summer's sun warmed their faces. Naruto slipped his hand into Iruka's own. Iruka glanced at his little brother. His hair was as bright as the day.

"We'll go to the library first," Iruka grinned, "little sunbeam."

Iruka made copies of the comic while Naruto looked at the manga section. They had more recent chapters in one of his favorite comics, One Piece. He grabbed a whole stack and brought them to the couch in the corner. Iruka sat down next to him with a book of his own. They read in a comfortable silence. Naruto stopped reading and leaned against Iruka, who draped his one arm over the boy's shoulders and messed his hair up with the other.

"I missed you, aniki."

"I missed you, too."

When they left the library, it was getting close to lunchtime. As Naruto walked alongside Iruka, he didn't recognize where they were going.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there…"

"We're going to the surprise place??? Where is it? What are we gonna do, nii-chan???"

Iruka burst out into laughter. "Relax. We're here." Naruto turned his head to see a ramen stand. Excitement bubbled in Naruto's stomach, or maybe it was just his hunger, thought Naruto, but he really did feel happy.

"My parents used to take me here every week," Iruka said, nostalgically. He stared at the sign, lost in a memory as Naruto stared at him. This place was really special to Iruka. This was his family's place to eat and he was taking Naruto there.

He thought, "I really am your brother." He gazed at the tall, tan figure before him in a state of awe and squeezed his hand. Iruka snapped out of his thoughts and saw Naruto beaming, "Let's go inside, nii-san."

Three bowls of ramen and two full bellies later, Iruka and Naruto walked along the street towards the playground.

"They just built this playground, you know. They've got a rock wall you can climb and some spiral slides," Iruka said.

"Will you go down them with me?"

"Of course."

"Will you chase me?"

"If you want me to."

"Okay. Then let's go!" Naruto shouted and pointed ahead. But when he saw all the other kids playing there, he dropped his arm and held Iruka's hand. "Can we go to the other one instead?"

"What?" Iruka was perplexed. "I thought you wanted to go here."

Naruto shook his head. "There is too many kids. They'll try to play with us and I don't want them to. I just wanna play with you."

Iruka nodded, somewhat dazed. "Alright." He led Naruto to the smaller playground. It was farther away but Naruto didn't care, as long as it was deserted, which it was. They had walked in a silence that differed from the nice one in the library. For Iruka, it was a troubled silence for he was tormented by Hashira's warning words she had said months before:

"Iruka, you should include some other kids when you play with Naruto. He's having a difficult time making friends." But Iruka had never included other kids when he lived at the orphanage. They all came and went. "Besides," he would think, "Naruto's the only one who really cares about me and I'm the only one who cares about him. It's fine just as it is, just the two of us."

But Iruka could see the consequences of his actions. Naruto isolated himself and completely depended on him. "He's suffering because I was so selfish," he thought, "Naruto… I am sorry. It's my fault you are alone. I'm a horrible brother…"

Naruto thought that Iruka was angry at him for refusing to play at the new playground. They finally arrived at the old playground. The wooden playground, though smaller than the other one and more worn, was perfect for Naruto. It was deserted and that lifted his spirits. The playground seemed like a private fortress just for them. Naruto tapped Iruka.

"Tag! You're it!" He ran and climbed the chain ladder. Iruka stood there staring at Naruto's receding back. He couldn't shake the guilt he felt for putting Naruto in the same lonely position he had been in. Iruka was Naruto's only family. They were not tied by blood but they had a deep bond. It was all that Naruto had.

Naruto reached the top and grinned. He looked back at Iruka. "Come on! Catch me if you can!" He stuck his tongue out. Iruka shook his head and tried to shake the feeling as well.

"Our time is precious. I will talk to him about making friends later." He ran after the little child who squealed and ran like crazy. His brother chased him over the rope bridge, up the wooden stairs, and down the slides until he finally caught him at the tower. Naruto quickly tagged him back, but Iruka slumped against the wall.

"Wait a minute, Naruto," he said, out of breath.

"What? You're tired already?"

"Sorry. I'm no good at catching foxes, even the little ones." He tickled Naruto's belly. Naruto giggled then hugged his aniki. Iruka's guilt came back and he knew that he had to talk to Naruto.

"Naruto. I need to talk to you."

"Okay." He sat down next to Iruka.

"Hashira tells me you haven't been playing with the other kids."

Naruto sulked. "I don't want to play with them." He started fiddling with the loose strings of his jeans.

"Don't you want to make friends?"

"I've got you."

"But you only see me once a week. Aren't you lonely?"

"I don't want to make any friends. I've got you and Hashira. I don't need anyone else." Naruto looked back at Iruka, smiling, as if trying to make him understand. "It's worth waiting the six days to see you for one."

Tears suddenly came to Iruka's eyes. School was starting next week and he knew that his free time would be limited. He couldn't spend the time with Naruto that he was now. "You've got to make friends, Naruto… You can't be alone there…"

"But I've got you, Iruka—"

"No, Naruto! I'm going to school next week." The tears rolled down his cheeks. "Our time together will be even shorter. I don't know how often I can visit or how long I'll be able to stay." Iruka's tears were just as unsettling as his words. To a child, seeing someone 'grown up' crying is always somewhat frightening. It made Naruto feel even more small and helpless than he already felt. He started sobbing.

"Iruka! Please don't leave me!" Iruka wrapped his arms around him.

He thought, "I keep making horrible mistakes. I keep hurting him! I wish I could be a better brother to you, Naruto." He held the shaking child and whispered, "I am sorry. I am so sorry." Iruka pressed his cheek against Naruto's hair. Neither of them had any words of comfort to share, so they cried until they couldn't cry anymore. Naruto stood up.

"Can you push me on the swing, please?"

Iruka nodded and they somberly walked to the swings. Naruto sat down and held the chains as Iruka pulled the swing back as far as he could before letting go.

When they returned to the orphanage, they saw Iruka's adoptive parents' car. They slowed their pace. Naruto squeezed his brother's hand. He didn't think he could cry anymore but when Iruka's mother said, "It's time to go, Iruka-chan," Naruto burst into tears. The woman looked at the poor child with sympathy but through Naruto's tears, her face seemed warped and evil. He felt like she was an evil witch along with everyone else that just wanted to make Naruto cry. He clung to Iruka and buried his face in his brother's shirt. A fear was welling up inside of Naruto. It was a fear of the darkness, an empty lonely darkness that seemed to have no end.

Iruka got down on his knees and held Naruto's shoulders. Gently he said, "Please look at me, Naruto." The child blinked away the tears so he could see his beloved brother and stifled his wails into whimpers.

"Naruto, it won't be long. Someone's going to adopt you and then we can be neighbors and see each other all the time—"

"I don't wanna be your neighbor! I wanna be your brother!" He was about to wail again but Iruka cut him off.

"Then wait for me," his firm tone silenced him, "I will adopt you one day and then I will be your father." Naruto's blue eyes shone at his words, "Until then, you have to be strong." Naruto nodded and Iruka wrapped his arms around him, feeling like he had aged 10 years in that one moment.

Iruka's promise didn't stop Naruto from crying after the car pulled away and it didn't stop Iruka from crying himself to sleep that night but it gave them hope. They had a light floating in that looming darkness.