Growing Pains

Chapter 14

Plopping herself down on the small couch, Araile leaned her back against the cushion with a sigh. Her stomach muscles clenched and un-clenched as she regarded her brother through narrowed gold eyes.

Why was he here? He had never come to visit her for no reason. Her tail twitched as her annoyance towards Kane peaked. He didn't have to attack Shinrai! That was uncalled for. Granted, Kane was like that. He needed to learn the precious lesson of patience and common sense.

'Kakashi would be a good teacher for that kind of stuff,' Araile mused to herself.

As Shinrai sat down beside her, she let out an amused snort at the image of Kane meditating. This caused Shinrai to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What?" he said, poking her in the thigh.

"Nothing," she giggled, the image of Kakashi pummelling Kane after amusing her greatly.

Shinrai shrugged at his friend, and turned his gaze towards Kane.

"So you're Araile's older brother huh? I can see the resemblance," Shinrai said quietly, and Kane nodded.

"I wanted to ask you a question, boy," Kane stated as he crossed his arms.

"Shinrai, his name is Shinrai," Araile corrected.

Where was her brother going with this?

"Whatever. What are your intentions with my sister?" Kane continued.

She choked on her spit and started coughing as Shinrai gaped at her brother, looking like a fish out of water. Getting her breath back, she turned wide eyes on her brother.

"W-what?! Where did that come from?" she gasped, cheeks starting to heat up.

Kane stood there, gazing intently at Shinrai.

"U-um..well...I don't know yet," Shinrai stuttered, cheeks beginning to turn red.

"Okay! Time for you to leave now Kane! Bye bye!" Araile said as she jumped off the couch and steered her brother towards the front door.

"A simple question," he answered calmly, and strolled out the door and down the front stairs.

Her golden eyes trailed after Kane with a glare. The nerve of that man, asking such a question! What kind of question was that anyways? Where was he going with that? Did he somehow know how you felt about Shinrai?

Another thought popped into her head: did Shinrai feel the same about her?

Questions began swirling in Araile's mind as she closed the front door quietly. Looking at her friend, she noticed how Shinrai's head was lowered; his eyes had a faraway look to them as his hands rested on his knees. The knuckles hosted a valley of nicks and scars.

A need to run her cheek over those knuckles ran through her mind, causing her cheeks to burn. Shaking her head slightly, she walked up to her dear friend.

"Hey," she said quietly, breaking Shinrai out of his trance.

"Don't worry about Kane. His bark is basically worse then his bite," she said, smiling softly.

Shinrai smiled back, causing butterflies to fly around in her stomach.

"I know. He's just looking after you," Shinrai said.

Tail twitching restlessly, Araile suddenly grabbed his hand, startling Shinrai as she tugged him off the couch.

"Come on, let's go outside and hang out!" Araile said cheerily.

"O-okay," Shinrai stammered, butterflies beginning to race through his stomach as soon as her hand grabbed his.

Smiling widely, she opened the door and ran outside, breathing in the fresh air. The sun was shinning high in the sky, and there was not a single cloud in the blue sky. Birds chirped and flew from tree to tree as she led Shinrai to a field. Araile had trained in this field when she was younger when she was bored and Kakashi was not there to entertain her.

"A field? Why a field?" Shinrai asked, confused as to why she led him here.

Smiling mischievously, Araile tapped him on the shoulder.

"Tag! You're it!" she shouted, and ran towards a row of trees.

Laughing, Shinrai took off behind her, fully intent on catching her. She swerved back and forth between some exposed tree roots and bushes, trying to lose Shinrai. She could hear Shinrai behind her as she crashed through some bushes. Shinrai could hear Araile panting and giggling lightly as she ran, legs working furiously.

Stopping suddenly, Shinrai had an idea. He jumped up on a high tree branch and began jumping from branch to branch, gaining an advantage. Araile slowed and hid behind a large tree trunk, still panting and giggling at the same time. Her head swivelled back and forth as she tried to locate where Shinrai was.

Wasn't he running behind her? Risking a peak, she looked around the trunk. Frowning, she blinked when she didn't see her friend.

Was she too fast for Shinrai that she lost him somewhere in the bushes? Yes, that must of been it. Grinning, Araile crept around the tree trunk.

Suddenly a dark shape crashed into her back, startling her. A shriek left her lips as she landed on her stomach. Her pulse pounded in her ears as a heavy object sat on her back. Squirming, the 14 year old tried to flip over, but to no avail.

A laugh broke through her panic-stricken mind.

"Got you!" Shinrai crowed gleefully, sitting on top of her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned her head and playfully glared up at her friend.

"Okay, now get off me. You're heavy!" Araile huffed.

Shinrai thankfully got off from her back and offered a hand towards her. Araile accepted his hand, smiling as he helped her up.

"How did you catch me?" she asked as she brushed her shirt free of leaves and twigs.

"I was above in the trees," he answered, watching her hand as she fixed her shirt.

"Oh, smart! I never thought of that," Araile said.