The Kooky Kitsune Korner

Title: Haruki's Search
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Kohaku Kitsune, Haruki Kitsune, and a lot of people so be prepared for tags :v //tag warning
Pairing: n/a
Ratings: K+
Warnings: Minor OOC
Author Notes: I wanted to write about Kohaku since I spent a lot of time on Yoshi lately. So here's Haruki's journey in trying to find his brother 8) Again, sorry for the tags, look at the description below for more information :heart:

Haruki stretched his short limbs and his back. He yawned and shook his head a bit to try and wake himself up. It was the middle of the day and he was taking a nap with... The small fox sighed and groaned as he realized his brother was gone and nowhere to be found in their room. The fox jumped off the ragged mattress and walked out of the room. He looked around for anyone that was around that may have seen where his brother had run off to. He saw a few familiar faces and ran off towards them. He saw Tamamo playing with Okori and Hiruko and approached them with a little caution.

"Haruki!!" Tamamo yelled excitedly as she saw him. She ran towards him and almost knocked the small fox over. Haruki groaned, looking thoroughly annoyed and pushed her off of him. His dark fur bristled for a moment and he looked at the other two foxes that were laughing at them.

"Oh come on, kid, at least have some fun." Hiruko chuckled.

"No..." Haruki frowned. "I'm not hear fo---"

"Whacha doin' here, Haru!" Tamamo said excitedly as she barreled into Haruki again. The smaller fox cursed as Tamamo nearly crushed him under her weight.

"Tamamo, get off of me." He wheezed as he tried to bat at her with his paws.

"Aw, yer no fun, Haru!" She frowned, letting him get up. Haruki wriggled free and sat a little aways from Tamamo. It's not that he didn't like her, it's that she was always so easily entertained and it exhausted him all the time. He really wondered where some of the Kitsune got their energy from because he wasn't entirely sure if it was stored or something. He looked over towards the other foxes though.

"Have any of you seen Kohaku?" He asked. "I'm not sure where he ran off to."

"I think Lil' Haku ran off towards tha forest again." Hiruko said and he looked towards Okori as she patted him with her paw. He leant towards her and listened to whatever she had to tell him. Although Haruki admired how Okori was silent most of the time, unlike most the Kitsune, he did find her selective speech a little odd. Either way, it was a quirk and there were a lot of them around the compound to be found.

"Well 'Kori says she saw the boy run off towards the graveyard." Hiruko said. "Could be he's visitin' his Pa and brother again."

"Did you see where he went, Tamamo?" Haruki asked, looking at the excited fox next to him.

"I thought he was with 'Gura or 'Kuzo n' 'Kari?" She said although, it sounded more like a question to him.

"But here's not here anymore?" Haruki continued.

"Lil' Haru looked a little down, so beats us where he could be." Hiruko added. "Besides, you know him better than we do, so you're more likely to find him anyways."

"I thought I'd ask anyways." Haruki said. "Anyways, thanks for the help and stop running into me, Tamamo. You're going to crush me one day."

"Aw! I can't help that yer small, Haru!" She giggled. "Besides, you just gotta get used to it!"

"I.. ugh..." He groaned. Hiruko just laughed at his expense and the small fox's fur bristled before he ran off.

Haruki left the Kitsune Castle and tried to pick up his brother's scent. He ran into Mamoru, Anri's partner, but he couldn't get anything out of him. The fox just hissed and growled at him before running off. Haruki could understand a little of what the fox had said but not clearly. He sighed and continued too try to sniff out Kohaku's scent. He ran into a few more foxes, asking them where his brother had ran off to. His search didn't get him very far but he continued anyways. He wanted to ask Fuko and Nui but was sure they'd scold him instead of help him so he shrugged it off. Kohaku had a knack for being friendly to everyone, something that wasn't lost on Haruki at all in fact he admired his brother for it. Being able to be friendly towards others despite whatever bad blood may be there between the Kitsune and everyone else.

The brown fox sighed as he searched the entire compound and came up empty handed. He frowned and ran towards the forest, trying to scout the usual trees that Kohaku frequented lately since his little brother died. He came up short after searching around for him and bolted towards the graveyard just in case. He searched the quiet place and came up empty. He wasn't at his younger brother's grave or his father's, he searched the other Kitsune graves nearby just in case and came up with the same results. He frowned and quietly left the area, not wanting to extend his stay or get shooed away by someone.

Haruki was stumped yet again. He sat outside the graveyard site and thought to himself where his brother would be. He ran towards the village, deciding to find Kioshi, Kohaku's childhood friend and his teammate. He ran past a few Uranami and stopped in his tracks. He recognized them, well one of them at least. He walked towards Harusaki and pawed at her leg as he looked up at her. The shy girl looked down at him and nearly jumped out of her skin. Utaro, the Uranami next to her, had given the fox a rather displeased look.

"Sorry to bother you, but have either of you seen Kohaku?" He asked them.

"Why should we care where that brat is?" Utaro grumbled.

"I haven't seen him, sorry." Harusaki said, sounding a little shaky.

Haruki just looked between them and continued on his way. He found a couple of Minawas nearby but shrugged the thought off. Kohaku wasn't really friendly with either of them but kept going anyways. The fox continued to make his way towards Kioshi's home but was happy that he picked up the boy's scent nearby. He sniffed the ground for a moment before chasing after it. There was another scent with Kioshi's and he recognized it as the boy's sister, Mai. Haruki found them soon enough and pawed at Kioshi's foot.

"Oh, hello Haruki." Kioshi said, sounding as timid and nervous as he usually did.

"Hi, Haruki!" Mai said, looking towards the fox. Now he never really expected her to see him; with Mai being blind and all.

"Hello." He replied. "Do either of you know where Kohaku is?"

"I haven't seen him at all today." Kioshi said. "Sorry, Haruki."

"It's fine." Haruki replied.

"I think he may have come by earlier, Kioshi." Mai said. "Or maybe it was Kagura instead?"

"I haven't seen either of them since training a few days ago." Kioshi mused. "Maybe he's at one of his usually hangouts again?"

"I'll look there then." Haruki said. "If you see him, can you tell him I'm looking for him?"

"We will." Kioshi said. "Good luck on your search!"

Haruki was off once again as he ran towards some of the other places Kohaku frequented. He couldn't find him at any of the restaurants, though he did ask Kokoro and Himawari if they saw him before he ran off, he looked around some of the orphanages and the alleys the kids often played in from time to time. As before, he ran into another Kitsune and asked Kazue and Akuma where his brother could be, they gave him the same answer as the others though. The fox sighed and decided to go for broke by walking towards the Hitoyo compound. He figured it was a long shot but he knew some of the older Kitsune liked to drag him there for laughs every now and then.

When he arrived at the compound he was lifted into the air almost immediately. He looked at who was picking him up and noticed it was Honoka. The fox grumped as she cuddled against him, Haruki fighting off the attention as best as he could. However, the girl was adamant in cuddling with him. He whined and groaned in protest, eventually glad that she stopped but a little upset he wasn't on the ground. He heard some chuckling nearby and looked over to see Suguro and another Hitoyo walking towards him. He couldn't remember his name but knew it was something easy. All Haruki remember was that the strong blonde loved to eat bugs.

"Haru, what're you doin' here?" Suguro chuckled.

"I'm trying to find Kohaku." Haruki replied as he tried to get out of Honoka's grasp.

"Oh, Lil' Haku's missing?" Masashi chuckled. "He might be eating some bugs with his brother."

"I highly doubt that." The fox said, struggling to free himself still.

"Oh, stop fidgeting, Haruki!" Honoka giggled. "I just wanna give you some love!"

"I could do without it." The fox muttered.

"Awww, come on, don't leave Koha hanging like that." Suguro chuckled.

"How do you mean?" Honoka asked.

"Please put me down." Haruki said, interrupting Honoka.

"Oh, fine." She frowned as she put him on the ground.

"Thank you." He said, shaking his little body. He looked up at the three above him. "Have either of you seen him by chance?"

"I haven't seen him at all today." Honoka said.

"Same here." Suguro said. "I've been with Sahi all day anyways. Maybe check back home? He could taking a nap still."

"I checked the entire compound and half the village by now..." Haruki muttered.

"You do know he does tend to roll off the bed when he sleeps." Suguro replied. Haruki was silent for a moment and looked up at the Kitsune.

"Thank you for the advice." Haruki said before he ran off towards home again.

He had gradually become more and more worried about where his brother was. He figured Kohaku might've been upset about something at first, preferring to be on his own, but now he was just concerned about where he was. Haruki raced inside the compound and into the Kitsune Castle. He ran past the familiar faces, ignored Tamamo as she called out for him and raced back into his room. He looked around the room he shared with his brother. After looking around, Haruki found Kohaku wrapped in a blanket he received from one of the Uranami Haruki ran into earlier; Haruki loved the detail that was stitched into it that read 'Not for Amri' on it. The misspelling was a mistake but it was still something that made them laugh every now and then. Haruki tugged on the blanket, to pull it down and saw Kohaku's face.

Overjoyed, the fox pawed at his brother, trying to wake him up. Kohaku groaned and his eyes slowly opened. The boy looked around for a moment and tried to be aware of his surroundings, figure out where he was. He sat up and rubbed his eyes then took another moment to do an exaggerated yawn. Before Kohaku did anything else, Haruki knocked him down and rubbed his face against his brother's. Kohaku laughed at the fox's excitement.

"Hey, what're ya doin', Haru?" He laughed.

"I'm just glad you're okay." Haruki said as he laid on his brother.

"Well okay then." Kohaku said, rubbing his brother's head. "Oh, hey how did I end up on the floor?"

Haruki just sighed and shook his head. Despite all the trouble he went through, Haruki was glad he found his brother and that he was okay. Kohaku yawned again and just threw the blanket he was using over them and went back to sleep.