Looking for Food.. And Onii-chan

Akio walked into the ramen shop, looking around and frowning. "No.. he's not here either.. where could Onii-chan be??"

He looked down when his stomach growled. "This place smells so yummy.. but I don't have any money.. onii-chan was supposed to be back a few hours ago.. I shouldn't be out!!"

Naruto sprinted into the ramen shop and hopped onto a stool, ordering three bowls of miso ramen. When the ramen man handed him his meal he started to pig out before noticing the boy who had been standing there for a while without moving. "Hey, kid, if you're not gonna order something, don't hog up space!" He called to Akio, shuffling his ninja headband around.

He looked to Naruto, his eyes watering up and his hands raising to cover them. "I-I'm sorry.. I-I w-was l-looking for Onii-chan.. b-but he's not here.. I'm sorry!!"

Naruto blinked a few times before realizing that the kid was about to cry. He hopped out of his chair, holding one bowl of ramen in his hands. "Hey, hey! Hold on, kid, don't go blubbering and crying all of a sudden, you say you've lost someone? You're big brother?" Naruto crouched down to see Akio from the same level, the last thing he wanted was someone crying becaue of his own reckless actions. "Here," He picked up some ramen noodles from his bowl and stuffed it in the boy's mouth. "Now calm down a bit and tell me exactly why you're here." He tried to grin, maybe it wasn't such a big deal, he had heard that kids got exited easily over these things.

He stared at Naruto, swallowing the noodles that were suddenly in his mouth and blinking the welled up tears away, or trying to at least. "Onii-chan left a while ago.. I was waiting for him in the Inn.. but he didn't come back.. so I was looking for him.. b-but I couldn't find him.. and now I'm here.. but he's not.."

"Oh, is that all?" Naruto stood up and stared down at Akio. The kid was kinda cute so he decided it wouldn't be too bothersome to help him out. "That doesn't seem like such a big deal. Your big brother wouldn't just leave Konoha without you, right? He's probably wandering around looking for you as we speak." Naruto pulled out a pen and notepad. "Now what does Onii-chan look like?"

He smiled, jumping up and hugging Naruto. "Yay!! You're going to help me find Onii-chan!!"

He looked up at Naruto, his expression full of joy. "He always looks really really mad, or really really sad, depending on which way you're looking at him.. oh!! And he has red hair! And and and black stuff around his eyes, with a drawing above one of them!! And he wears a funny looking thing on his back that carries ground from home land in it!! I don't know where he would be, though.."

"Hmm.." Naruto stuck his tongue out in concentration and finished off what he was drawing on the paper. "So he looks something like..."



"This?"

He stared at the drawing, then grinned widely. "Yes yes!! That looks just like him!! But Onii-chan would never have a flower, we can't grow flowers like that in our village."

"Oh!" Naruto crossed out the flower. "Ok, so its like mud or something?" He waved his hand in front of his face. "Ah, it doesn't matter, so NEXT!" Nodding, he put away his notepad, grinning because of his new assigned mission of duty. "Where did Onii-chan say he was going before you waited for him at the inn?"

"When it's wet it's mud.." He blinked, then grinned again and jumped around. "Okay!! Okay!! Um.. he said.. he saiiiidd.."

Suddenly, he made a dark face and lowered his voice to make it sound raspy in a way. It was the best he could do. "'Stay here and don't follow me, you brat. I need to do something, and if I see you I'll kill you.' He said that!! It was kinda scary, but he didn't really tell me where he was going. He looked kinda mad.. but he always looks mad, so I was confused. But I don't know where he is.."

Naruto shivered at the thought of his doodle talking in such a way. "Um, ok, lesson one! Next time you're out with Onii-chan and he leaves you alone, you HAVE to make sure you know where he's going." Then he turned facing out of the restaurant. "But if he didn't say anything, that's his own fault. Where does he usually go, umm..umm.. What's your name again?"

"But I did!! He wouldn't tell me.." He blinked, then smiled softly. "My name is Akio! Your really nice, Mr. Wiskers! Thank you for helping me find Onii-chan, I'd be doomdeded if you didn't show up!"

Naruto grinned down at the little boy. He decided he liked being depended on. "Aw, it's not that big a deal." He grabbed his half-eaten ramen and started strolling out of the stand, not really caring that he was stealing the bowl. "But the problem is, I'm not sure where to start. I mean, I know what he looks like, but we don't know where he could be. Konoha's a pretty big place.."

"Yes, it is!" He smiled, following Naruto, or Mr. Wiskers as he had called him. "It's different from where I live, theres those big green thingies and it's not as hot over here! But since I don't know my way around here, I wouldn't know where to look either.. where would an angry sandy guy be in this place?"

Naruto blinked at Akio. "Angry sandy guy?" He cocked his head to the side questionably but he didn't really know why. "Hey, do you know anyone from Konoha? Cuz maybe your brother went to see them or something. Do you remember him ever talking about friends from here?"

"Um.. I dunno.." He looked like he was thinking for a second. "Well.. I think he said the reason he was here was because he needed to see somebody.. the only person he wouldn't kill, I think.. he doesn't like that many people"

"Your brother sure does sound like a morbid guy, huh?" He glanced around but everyone seemed to be slightly cheerful and no one looked like the 'thing' he had drawn to represent Onii-chan. "But I don't suppose you know who that person was. You don't seem to know much about the insides of your brother so this is gonna be a little harder than I thought.."

Gaara was walking through the streets of Konoha, not entirely sure where he was, but knowing that it was the general route back to the Inn. He supposed that it had been a long enough time looking around.

Akio turned his head, turning it back to Naruto, then snapping it back in the direction that he had looked in, gasping and pointing. "There he is!! It's Onii-chan!!"

With that, he ran over and tackle hugged Gaara, a large grin on his face.

Naruto ran up to Gaara as well, grinning because it hadn't quite sunken in yet what was going on. "Gaara! Good to see you again, believe it! But..." He glanced between the two and cupped his hands behind his head, not seeing much of a similarity between Akio and his 'Onii-chan'. "Since when did you have another brother? And a little one at that..."

He pushed the little purple haired child off of him. "I don't. He is the brat my father forced me to take care of.. if I don't let him follow me around.."

He stared at Naruto for a second, then tried to push Akio off of him once again. "Damnit, child, let go!"

"Hey!" Naruto pulled Akio off of Gaara and hugged him in place. "Stop being so mean to you're Nii-chan! Even if he is forced on you.. Whatever, that's not the point! He's been worried sick about you, believe it! Why didn't you tell him where you were going, huh?" He rubbed his cheek against Akio's head, anime tears ran down his cheeks. "He's such a cute kid toooo! Nii-chan I'm sorry Gar-Gar's so mean!"

"Because he wasn't supposed to come looking for me." He growled, crossing his arms. "If I could, I would give you the resposibilities. But I can't, because then I wouldn't have anywhere to go after that."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked yet still didn't let go of Akio. He stared, clueless, at Gaara. "What do you mean?"