Strength From Within (A Naruto Neglect Book)

28

Daidai was apprehensive as he approached the office of the Hokage tower. Katsuko continued to seem quite smug about whatever it was she knew and was keeping secret, and while he couldn't say he was particularly scared of what might happen (he was an anbu and had seen many terrifying things) he was definitely uncertain.

As he approached, he felt a number of large chakra signatures, some of which were familiar to him. As he'd improved on his Uzumaki bloodline skills over the past few years, he'd been working on sensing chakra a lot more often and could recognise some people by their chakra signature. He could recognise Itachi and Hibiki, who were probably working as guards for the Hokage since their signatures were extremely suppressed, and the only reason Daidai could sense them were because he learnt to find them even when other people couldn't in case of an emergency in a mission where they had to stay hidden or something.

Other people he could sense were Anko, Kakashi, Gai, Tsunade, Shizune, and of course the Hokage. Katsuko hummed softly, skipping along to the room with excitement. "Now, Daidai, we have something rather special prepared for you. I was working through this with Shizune and Anko when I found out what was to happen, so I do hope you like this," she said kindly, glancing up at him and smiling somewhat nervously. "Yoshino and Shikaku couldn't come as they're with Shikamaru, but they wanted to send you their regards."

With that, Katsuko opened the door, taking Daidai by the hand and leading him inside. He looked at all the people in the room and smiled a little, noting they had serious expressions on but seemed to be trying not to smile for some reason or another. Sure, he'd known they would all be there, he'd sensed it, but he was still happy to see them.

Minato was the first to break the silence, wearing a small yet proud smile as he got up from his desk, walking to be standing in front of him. "Uzumaki Daidai, I have brought you here today for a very important reason," he started, trying to sound formal but ultimately failing and breaking out into a large smile. "I'm really not good at these formalities, my apologies. I know you have just graduated and become a tokubetsu chūnin, but that will not be your rank. As of now, you are officially a chūnin of Konoha! While I know you have what is in you to be a jonin, without any field experience leading teams or working with a wide range of people I believed it was best to wait for that."

When Minato said he would become a chūnin, the females in the room, plus Gai, broke into large smiles as well and clapped. Daidai was surprised that he got given the role so fast, even despite being in anbu, but smiled proudly anyway. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I am honoured that you have given me this role, and as a ninja of Konoha I promise not to let you down!"

Minato smiled and nodded, handing him the chūnin flack jacket and patting his shoulder. "Usually I would not promote a genin straight away, even if that genin is a tokubetsu chūnin and a strong ninja. I have had many conversations with these people present, along with Shikaku and Shikamaru Nara and those two."

Daidai nodded with a smile, for the first time in a very long time feeling relaxed with his biological father. Yes, Minato didn't remember him, but he felt like the man had truly changed since that incident. He had been putting in so much effort to be kind especially after he'd been informed of his actions in the anbu test, for which he'd genuinely and profusely apologised for. Maybe one day there was hope for letting him back into his life, but that would still be a while away. He then turned towards the other people in the room, giving them a bright smile. "Thank you all for your support. Honestly, I know it hasn't been easy dealing with my mood and my training and everything like that, but I've come so far and I know I'll continue to improve. I promise to always try my best to look after you and make you proud."

In the background, Gai shed a tear and Kakashi held him back from jumping at the boy and creating the indestructible sunset of youth genjutsu. The copy nin just nodded approvingly, a gentle expression clear from his visible eye. The man had not told Daidai, but he had figured out his true identity a while back. He didn't know how to confront him about it though, since the boy obviously had reasons for hiding it and it made sense seeing the fight that had happened between the pair. Still, Daidai didn't seem to despise the Hokage as much as he had in the past, which was a good sign. He hoped the two would make it up one day, but Kakashi didn't want to force anything, especially when he himself was still wary of the Hokage and his wife.

Anko grinned and congratulated him, whispering in his ear that she would be teaching him some special things now he was officially chūnin, and Shizune gave him a big hug. Tsunade also congratulated him and with a huge grin offered to take him out to drinks now that he was adult enough by ninja standards, which Daidai politely declined and said that he'd prefer not to get into alcohol in case it hinder his growth for some reason or another.

Lastly, there was Katsuko, who smiled softly and took his hand. "I'm proud of you, Nii-san. One day, we'll be able to go and make our own village, and we can all be a family. I'll have both of my big brothers, you and Naruto-nii, and we'll all be happy! Maybe Shikamaru-kun can come as well, since you two are so close, and some of your other friends. Oh, I'm so excited for the future," she told him happily, giggling a little at the end.

Daidai just smiled through when she mentioned his other name so as not to give it away who he was or make her feel like he didn't want to meet, well, himself. He nodded and smiled warmly at her, taking his hand away from hers and patting her head gently. "I can't wait until that day either, Ko-chan," he said gently, pulling away and sighing happily. He then frowned a little and looked into her eyes. "Hey, you knew for sure that this was going to happen! You called me 'little chūnin' when I came out even though you didn't know if I'd become a tokubetsu chūnin or not," he said, pouting. He usually wasn't this childish, but he'd opened up a lot more with her and Shikamaru. He didn't feel like he had to be so formal like he had to be around adults, and sometimes he truly did 'act his age'.

Katsuko just grinned and winked, giggling a little more. "Of course I knew! Tou-san literally said that he'd had many conversations with us about your promotion, we all knew about this beforehand. Dai-nii, for a smart person you sure are a dumbass sometimes," she said with another laugh.

Daidai's cheeks flushed pink out of embarrassment, and he continued to pout as she teased him, until he seemed to think of something and smirked. "Whatever, Kit-Kat. At least I don't have a name that sounds like an otherworldly chocolate bar."

Katsuko watched as Daidai's face lit up into a grin, a real, bright, true smile. Not only that, but he actually laughed for once, and eyes were full of light and life. She'd not seen him this happy in a long time, so it really meant a lot for her. Yes, she would treasure this memory forever, a smile on her brother's face and the sound of his laughter filling the room.

(A/N) Sorry, it's a little shorter than usual and a bit more of a filler chapter. Daidai is a chūnin now though, so he needs a team... or maybe two :3