Punisher's Daughter

Older Brothers: Part 3

Quietly watching his little sister eat, thoughts of how her so-called family and the villagers treat her start running through Iruka's mind. The villagers and a few shinobi would beat, carve, cut, and burn Naruko whenever she wasn't with Asuma or Iruka. As for the hyperactive blond's so-called parents, they don't feed, clothe, or even acknowledge their daughter's existence, and they also lock her outside of their house every night. 'This isn't the same village my parents fought and died for.' Iruka thought sadly while watching Naruko eat. As he watched her, memories of when she became a big part of his life began to play in his mind.

|Flashback three years ago|

It was a stormy night, and Iruka was walking home from grading his students' tests at the Academy. As he was walking, he suddenly heard a scream come from an abandoned alleyway. Without thinking, he ran to where the scream was coming from, and when Iruka got there, he saw a group of villagers stabbing and beating a child who cried and screamed in pain. When Iruka caught a small glimpse of familiar blond hair, he knew who the villagers were hurting. 'Naruko.' He mentally said her name. The scarred Chunin had never viewed the eldest Namikaze as a demon. Instead, he saw an innocent little girl who's been falsely labeled as a monster and treated like a pariah.

"Stop, please!!!" Naruko cried out in pain, but her cries were ignored, and the angry villagers continued to beat and stab her repeatedly. No longer being able to stand there and watch the villagers continue to hurt his student, Iruka yelled, "Leave her alone!!!!!" The villagers stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Iruka. "This monster deserves to die!!" A man angrily yelled back and kicked the blond in the ribs. When Iruka heard Naruko cry, he snapped and ran to the villager, holding him up by his shirt. Then he emitted enough killing intent to scare the shit out of the man and the rest of the angry mob.

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen and listen good. If I ever catch you or your friends hurting my student again, there will be hell to pay. Now get out of here!" Iruka threw the man to the ground and watched him get up. Once the villagers saw the dangerous look in the Academy teacher's eyes, they ran away. Iruka walked over to Naru, but thinking that it was another villager there to hurt her again, she got into a fetal position. Iruka crouched down, and he softly said, "They're all gone." Recognizing the sound of her sensei's voice, she whispered, "Iruka-sensei." He smiled sadly and carefully picked her up. "I'm taking you to the hospital." Iruka said, and Naruko begged, "Don't take me to the hospital, Iruka-sensei."

After seeing the fear in Naruko's eyes, Iruka wondered why the blond didn't want to go to the hospital."Please take me to Niisan's house." She tiredly says. 'Who is her Niisan?' Iruka wondered before he curiously asked, "Naruko, who is your Niisan?" The tired girl only said, "Asuma." Before he could ask her anything else, Naruko passed out from her injuries. Carefully picking up the small girl, Iruka ran to Asuma's house without stopping. Nothing slowed the scarred Chunin down, not even the rain. When Iruka arrived at the chain smoker's house, he went to the front door and yelled, "Asuma, let me in!! Naruko's hurt real bad!!!" It didn't take long before the door opened, and Asuma motioned for him to come inside.

Asuma led Iruka to the living room and said, "Set her on the couch. I'm going to get the first aid kit." After Asuma left, Iruka couldn't help but feel guilty about not noticing how much Naruko had been suffering. Iruka knew what she held within her, but he never hated the blond Jinchirūki. Seeing the young girl sleeping on the couch with blood in her long blond hair, bruises on her face, and cuts all over her was enough to bring tears to the scarred Chunin's eyes. When Asuma came back with the first aid kit, Iruka begged the man to let him be the one to bandage the unconscious blond. With great care, Iruka cleaned Naruko's wounds while Asuma silently seethed.

When Iruka finished cleaning Naru's wounds, he started to bandage them. No longer being able to stand there in silence any longer, Asuma gratefully says, "Thank you for saving my Imouto." Despite being grateful that Iruka had saved Naruko, Asuma was still pissed at the villagers for hurting her. "Do her parents know about this?" Iruka asked Asuma. "She's told them, but Minato and Kushina don't care about her. They lock her out of their house. And every time that happens, she stays with me so the villagers don't hurt her." Asuma said with a sad look. 'But they're her parents.' Iruka was shocked by what he had just learned.

Looking back, Iruka remembered the first day of class when the Fourth Hokage and his wife had walked Naruko's brother and sister to his class. They introduced Menma and Narumi to him, but not once did they mention Naruko's name. When he asked to know her name, she only said, "My name is Naruko." She didn't tell her last name, and whenever Iruka asked her why, she refused to answer. And now he knew why Naruko didn't want to go by Minato and Kushina's last name. 'Back then, I thought it was just family issues, but I was wrong.' Iruka sighed while he applied the last bandage.

After Iruka finished, Asuma picked Naruko up and carried her to the guest room while Iruka sat down on the floor and waited for him to come back. When Asuma returned to the room, he seriously said, "We need to talk." For the next two and a half hours, Asuma explained to Iruka about his little sister's home life. When the older man finished, Iruka looked ready to kill someone. 'How could they do that to her?! Those people are monsters!!' Iruka thought angrily before he vowed to protect Naruko. Not only did Iruka swear to protect her, but he also gained a new family.

[End of Flashback]

"Iruka-nii, thank you for breakfast. It was so good." Naruko walked to the sink to wash her plate. "I'm glad that you liked it," Iruka said happily. "Your cooking tastes so much better than Asuma-nii's." Naruko bluntly said as Asuma walked into the kitchen. The poor man's pride suddenly shattered into little pieces, and he fell on the floor. "My cooking isn't that bad." Asuma said to them."Yeah, it is!" Iruka and Naruko said in unison.

💀To be continued! Be on the lookout for the final of Older Brothers💀