I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
Wow I am seriously on a roll now. Hope you enjoyed that previous chappy, and this one too!
Hayoen
"Mom," Itachi called as he entered through the door, holding Izumi's hand.
"Yes, honey?" Mikoto replied, trying not to sound too ecstatic. She couldn't have Itachi know that she as well as the Leaf Legion hid in a bush while they. . . did couple stuff, now could she?
She walked out the kitchen to find her oldest son slightly blushing as he held the hand of Izumi Uchiha.
"Oh, how very nice to see you, Izumi," Mikoto said politely. She smiled before turning to Itachi and wiggling her eyebrows.
Itachi blushed and looked away.
Giggling, Mikoto called, "Fugaku dear, come down here please. And can you fetch Sasuke and Naruto?"
There was silence before two thumps hit the floor from upstairs, and quite a few crashing.
"Bastard!"
"Loser!"
"Bastard!"
"Loser!"
"Bastard!"
"Lo -"
"Would you boys PLEASE stop wrestling before you break anything else?" They heard Fugaku exclaim.
"Yes Dad," the two chorused before the three males came downstairs.
"What is it?" Fugaku sighed tiredly. He had a headache from all that paperwork, and he really needed a break. How did the Hokage's manage it?
"What's wrong, Dad?" Naruto blinked innocently up at his adoptive father.
Fugaku sighed. "Paperwork."
"Ah," Naruto nodded sagely. "That monstrosity."
"I don't know how the Hokage does it," Fugaku sighed again.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Sasuke snickered.
"Sasuke, you shouldn't talk about Dad like that! You know that paperwork is an absolute DEMON! " Naruto scolded.
"Yeah, and you had absolutely no problem with that when you were Hokage," Sasuke retorted.
"Oh shut up," Naruto smiled.
"Ne~ Dad, has it ever come to your attention that you never actually had to sit in the office and do all of that paperwork?" Naruto smiled innocently.
Fugaku looked at his child. "What are you talking about?"
"The easy way out of doing paperwork, of course," Sasuke grinned.
Fugaku looked intrigued. "Do tell."
"With my signature technique, you don't have to do paperwork," Naruto continued. "You simply use. . ."
"You use. . ." Fugaku urged.
"The Shadow Clone jutsu!" Naruto declared dramatically as Fugaku promptly went over to a wall and started banging his head on it, muttering things about "smartass prodigies", "idiot me", and "outsmarted by a five-year-old". Or something along those lines.
Everyone was sweatdropping at what Fugaku was doing.
"Um, dear?" Mikoto tried. "You should stop doing that now. It's bad for your health."
Sasuke snickered. "Yeah, you might get brain damage like Naruto."
"Oi! I do NOT have brain damage! I'm smarter than you!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly.
"In battle strategies. . . I'll admit yours are quicker and more efficient. When you're making, removing or solving seals, you definitely win that. But in the academic area, you have to admit that I'm faster at it than you are."
"Doesn't mean I'm dumb!" Naruto pouted.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Sasuke looked amused.
"Why don't you keep telling yourself that your hair doesn't look like a chicken butt?" Naruto shot back.
"Oi! It does NOT look like a chicken butt!"
"Oh yeah, that's right. Because it looks like a duck's ass!"
"No it doesn't!"
"Oh yes it does!"
"Oh no it doesn't!"
"Oh yes it does!"
"Oh no it -"
"Enough!" Itachi let go of Izumi's hand and went over to separate the boys.
"Stay out of this Itachi!" the two boys shouted in unison. "Go make out with your girlfriend and let us settle this by ourselves!"
Itachi blinked.
The two boys glared at each other. "Stop copying me! No, you stop! I'm not doing anything! Stop it! Grr!" They growled as they engaged in a glaring-staring war.
"That is creepy," Izumi sweatdropped.
Itachi chuckled, looking over at her. "This is quite typical in this Uchiha household."
Izumi smiled softly as she watched Mikoto try and stop Fugaku banging his head on the wall as Itachi tried to separate the two brothers.
"I could get used to this."
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Later that night, Izumi sat down with her boyfriend's family for dinner. Shisui had joined them as well. Naruto and Sasuke were chattering a mile a minute, obviously having gotten over their argument.
"Thanks for dinner, Mikoto-san," she smiled. "It looks delicious!"
Mikoto smiled. "It's a pleasure to have you, Izumi. It's about time Itachi-kun got a girlfriend, anyway."
Itachi blushed and looked away.
"Speaking of which," Fugaku looked at his younger son. "Sasuke, when are you going to get a girlfriend?"
Sasuke, who had just taken a gulp of water, froze and spit the water all over Naruto.
"Oi, Sasuke! That's disgusting!" Naruto exclaimed, rushing off to clean himself.
Sasuke wiped his mouth and turned to his father, wide-eyed. "What did you just say?"
"When are you going to get a girlfriend?" Itachi repeated.
"Dad! I'm six!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"And?" Fugaku raised an eyebrow. "You hang out with a lot of children. Four of them are female."
"Th-That doesn't mean I love one of them!" Sasuke spluttered.
"What if one of them loves you?" Fugaku wiggled his eyebrows. "I mean, Itachi didn't even realize Izumi liked him since they were five."
"Dense prodigy," Shisui snickered.
"Shut up," Itachi glared. "Just because you have no hope of having a love life doesn't mean you can mock mine."
"Excuse me?" Shisui cried. "Are you calling me a hopeless romantic?"
"Obviously," Naruto retorted, sitting back down beside his brother. "You mock him, he mocks you. That's how your life works. And if you don't like it then boo-hoo, life sucks, now go throw yourself off a cliff."
"Naruto!" Mikoto admonished. "That wasn't very nice!"
"Well he's not very nice either," Naruto muttered under his breath, making Sasuke smile.
"So, when are you two getting hitched?" Mikoto wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Mother!" Itachi exclaimed in profound embarrassment. "We just started going out! How could you say that?!"
Mikoto giggled. "And yet you've had your first kiss within five minutes of getting together."
Itachi and Izumi blushed.
"H-How do you know that?!"
Mikoto whistled innocently as Naruto and Sasuke fell out of their chairs laughing. Fugaku was chuckling in amusement as well.
"Y-You hid with them?!" Itachi exclaimed. "Mother how could you?!"
"It was a very cute scene," his mother gushed.
"And awfully cliche," Sasuke snorted as he picked himself up. "Honestly, it literally went, "I love you Itachi." "I love you Izumi." He mimicked in a high voice.
"And then mwah-mwah-mwah," Naruto made kissy faces.
"Blurgh," Sasuke gagged. "Isn't it an older brother's responsibility to preserve their younger siblings' innocence, not corrupt it?"
Naruto snorted. "Sasuke, you should know older brothers are never reliable. Believe me, I know."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto said simply, "Dog."
"Ah," Sasuke nodded sagely.
"If you're done mocking me," Itachi ground out with mock anger in his voice, "I'd like you to introduce yourselves to her. Without making fun of us."
"Fine," Sasuke drawled.
Taking a deep breath, the boys glanced at each other before speaking in perfect unison.
"My name is Naruto/Sasuke Uchiha. I like things and I dislike things. My hobby is my hobby, and my dream for the future is simply that. A dream."
Everyone sweatdropped.
"Did you. . . rehearse for that?" Fugaku asked, eye twitching.
"No," the boys chorused.
"Boys, when I said "introduce yourself", I meant actually introduce yourself," Itachi stated in annoyance.
"Oh okay," they smiled. "My name is Naruto/Sasuke Uchiha. I like tomato/ramen and Sasuke/Naruto. I dislike people who cannot tell the difference between a the jailed and the jailer. My hobby is training and hanging out with my friends. My dream for the future is to bring about world peace and be Hokage/ANBU Captain."
"Again, stop doing that!" Itachi groaned.
"You sure you don't rehearse for it? It's getting very scary," Fugaku groaned, rubbing his temples. Did his boys have think so much alike? But then again, they did grow up as practically twins. . .
"Hey Dad," Naruto said suddenly, "you know the. . . oh wait never mind," he mumbled, looking down. "I'll tell you later."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and nudged him subtly at the raised eyebrow of Fugaku and the confused tilt-of-the-head from Mikoto.
"What's up? " Sasuke asked through the telepathic link.
Naruto flinched a little. "Do you think. . . I don't know, do you think I should tell him I befriended Kurama? And that I can summon him at will? "
"Well I don't really see how - wait a minute, you can SUMMON HIM?! " Sasuke shouted in surprise, his eyebrows shooting straight up, causing some confused looks his way which he was completely oblivious to.
"Ow, yes. I can like to make him the size of adult-Akamaru, so I can ride him ya know? Otherwise I just make him puppy-Akamaru so he can sit on my head."
"Anyway, back to the point. Why do you want to tell Dad? "
"Well. . . you think maybe they might suspect us of hiding too much? Besides, I wanna be able to summon Kurama openly, so I have him as my companion like Kiba has Akamaru. Obviously I won't have him with all nine tails, that would freak people out. I would make him have only one tail."
"But why tell him? Why not just say you found a cub and took it in, since foxes are you favourite animal? You raised it and it turned out to be a ninja fox, if that is such a thing, and it can grow the size of Inuzuka dogs."
"Yeah. . . yeah! That's a great story! Thanks Sasuke! "
"No problem. Now I need you to help me with something very important."
"And that is? "
"How am I gonna explain my Rinnegan? "
"Uh. . . what are you talking about? It hasn't come out yet."
"Baka. It's a genjutsu, like you told me to use."
"WHAT?! IT CAME OUT ALREADY?! " Naruto, Kurama and surprisingly Sakura shrieked.
"Ow, yes. And Sakura, when did you come in? "
"Well, you do realize the link is automatically us three, right? " the pinkette questioned, giggling.
"Oh. . . hey Naruto. Do you think you can add the whole Leaf Legion? " Sasuke asked thoughtfully. "Maybe they can help us. Shikamaru probably could come up with an amazing story."
"True. Okay, hang on."
A minute later, there were multiple voices in the three children's heads.
"What a drag. Is this a telepathic link? "
"What happened? Did something happen? Did your family find out about something? " Neji's worried voice came through.
"This is. . . unexpected," Tenten's voice said slowly.
"How youthful! A telepathic conversation! " the youth-infected Spandex-Boy exclaimed.
"Alright, everyone here? Okay. We have a big problem," Naruto began. "Sasuke's Rinnegan is showing, and right now he has it hidden with a genjutsu. But it won't last long. Shikamaru, we need you to devise a believable story to explain the Rinnegan. It is, after all, believed to be nothing more than a legend."
"Ugh, this is such a drag. . ." the Nara drawled.
"Shika, hurry up and help Sasuke or I will go over there and grab you by the ear and drag you all the way to the Uchiha Compound! " Ino threatened.
"Alright, alright. Calm down. Troublesome woman," Shikamaru mumbled.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! "
"Troublesome woman, be quiet. I'm trying to think! "
There was a brief period of silence before Shikamaru finally spoke up. "Naruto, Sasuke, you there? "
Both boys responded affirmative.
"Alright. This is the best thing I can come up with, so if you're not happy deal with it or make up your own. You have three choices. Don't you dare interrupt me or Kami help you, I WILL go over there and attack you. Choice one, restore their memory and tell them the truth. Choice two, twist the truth into a believable story. Choice three, keep the genjutsu on until you're older and the Sage of Six Paths story is more believable."
Naruto and Sasuke were silent, mulling over the various possibilities.
"Option one is out," Sasuke said at last. "My father has changed for the better. I do not want him to have their previous memories. Choice three can be temporary, but if I activate my Sharingan, I am afraid the genjutsu will come undone."
"Then the only one left is twisting the truth," Shikamaru drawled.
Sasuke smiled. "Thanks Shika."
"Troublesome Uchiha," Shikamaru mumbled, stifling a yawn. Sasuke rolled his eyes good-naturedly at his friend's laziness.
"See you guys tomorrow! " Naruto chirped cheerfully before the telepathic link was deactivated.
". . . and I expect my grandchildren to be very well behaved," Fugaku's amused-yet-stern voice was what welcomed the boys back as they returned to reality.
Both boys sweatdropped as Itachi and Izumi were the colour of an overripe tomato.
"F-Father!" Itachi stuttered.
Fugaku smirked as he winked at his youngest sons, who winked back at him with matching mischievous sparkle in their eyes.
"Fugaku," Mikoto chided, but she was smiling. It was fun to see her normally-stoic son get all embarrassed.
"What?" Fugaku said, acting clueless. "I'm just giving them tips."
Mikoto shook her head fondly. What could she do about the teasing? Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, and neither would Fugaku it would seem. Their reactions were hilarious anyway.
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Later that night, as Itachi was walking Izumi home, Sasuke and Naruto sat in the living room simply meditating.
Fugaku walked in on them, and suddenly remembered Naruto wanted to talk to him about something at dinner, but refrained most likely because Izumi was there.
The Uchiha clan head sat down cross-legged before the blonde boy. "Naruto," he called softly. "Naruto," he said louder.
The blonde slowly opened his eyes. "Yes, Dad?"
"Was there something you wanted to tell me at dinner?"
"Oh, that's right," Naruto smiled. "A few weeks ago, I found a fox cub in the forest. I kind of raised it. . . and I was hoping we could train it to be a tracker, like the Inuzuka dogs. You know, like a ninja fox?" he said hopefully.
Fugaku thought it over. "I don't see why not. You know Tsume's son, am I correct?"
"Kiba," Naruto nodded.
"I'm sure you can ask him to train your fox," Fugaku smiled.
"Thanks Dad," Naruto grinned. "Can he sleep in my room? I've named him Kurama!"
Fugaku raised an eyebrow. "Well. . . as long as he doesn't dirty the house, and he's toilet trained I suppose it would be alright. . ."
Naruto leapt up and threw his arms around his adoptive father, startling the man. "Thanks Dad! You're the best!" he exclaimed, just as Itachi walked through the door.
"Who's the best?" Itachi smiled, poking Naruto quickly in the forehead.
Naruto grinned. "I found a fox cub, and Dad's letting me keep it!"
"A pet? " Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"No. . . more like a ninja fox," Fugaku shrugged at the skeptical look his oldest son was giving him.
Naruto squatted before Sasuke before he flicked the other boy's forehead. "Oi, Sasuke quit meditating. We've got to tell them, ya know."
Sasuke, somewhat irritated, opened his eyes. "Can it wait for a while?" he grumbled. "I don't wanna tell them now."
"It's now or never," Naruto said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Sasuke grumbled. "Fine. But you're helping me, you got that?" He gave his brother the infamous Uchiha glare.
Naruto held his hands up in surrender, smiling. "Of course."
"And you're revealing your secret too."
Naruto's smile dropped. "What?"
"You know, your Bijuu mode, and the fact that you know Kurama. Just pretend his name is Kyuubi or something."
"Ugh, fine. I guess it's only fair. They already know of your Susanoo and Amateratsu, right? "
"Correct, during the Chuunin Exams when I "gained" my Mangekyō."
"Great. Let's get talking then."
"Mom, can you please come here?" Sasuke called hesitantly.
Mikoto appeared almost instantly.
"Sit down, this is going to take a while," Naruto ordered as Fugaku rose and the three older Uchiha members sat down on the couch before the boys who were still cross-legged on the floor.
"You see, the thing is. . ." Naruto trailed off, looking to his brother for help.
"Um, it began like this," Sasuke began nervously. "It was after the Chuunin Exams, after I gained my Mangekyō. We were uh. . . sparring, you could say. And then uh, when Naruto and I were going in for the Chidori vs. Rasengan, when suddenly we kinda got pulled into this weird space-dimension."
"And then we got greeted by Old Man Sage," Naruto added.
"Otherwise known as Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, or the Sage of Six Paths," Sasuke corrected, elbowing his brother.
"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Anyway apparently Sasuke and I are. . . the reincarnations of his sons, Indra and Ashura." Naruto's eyes flicked around uncomfortably, landing on anything and everything except his stunned family.
"What?" Itachi finally spoke. Even if he did have his memories from the future, he didn't know his brothers were the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura.
"I thought it was nothing but a myth. . ." Fugaku murmured in wonder.
"And that's not all," Sasuke continued, "as Indra, I have been uh. . . given the gift of. . ." he mumbled the last word.
"What? We can't hear you," Mikoto said.
"I said I have the. . ." Sasuke still mumbled the last word, although it was slightly louder than the first time.
"Sasuke just spit it out!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Fine! I have the Rinnegan! Happy now?" Sasuke turned his glare on Naruto, who was smiling innocently.
"Yep."
"Now you have to -"
"YOU HAVE THE WHAT?!" The three adults jumped up and Mikoto pounced on her son.
"Yes, how many times do you want me to say it? I have the Rinnegan, given to me by the Sage of Six Paths as I am the second reincarnation of Indra. The previous being Madara Uchiha."
There was silence before Sasuke added, "And Naruto's -" he stopped abruptly when he saw Naruto softly closing their bedroom door.
Growling mentally, Sasuke activated the telepathic link. "What the hell, Naruto! You said you would help me explain! "
"You already did."
"And you have to tell them your Bijuu mode! And your Sage of Six Paths mode! "
"It can wait."
"What the hell dobe?! " In his frustration Sasuke accidentally pulled out Naruto's old nickname. "I have no idea what the hell is going through your head right now, but you need to get your ass down here."
". . . no."
"Why not?! "
"Uchiha. Think about this."
"K-Kurama? "
"Yes. If you think about why Naruto won't come down, then you will have your answer."
"I can't be bothered thinking," Sasuke replied dryly.
There was a snort of laughter from Naruto. "Out of all people. . . YOU can't be bothered thinking. Unbelievable."
"Naruto I swear if you don't come down right this minute. . ."
"You'll what? Chidori me again? "
There was silence before a sharp "Fine. Be that way." was said, and Sasuke cut the link.
Naruto groaned to himself as he threw himself back onto his bed. That was a low blow. He knew how Sasuke felt about that, especially since it was his second time. He shouldn't have pulled it out.
"Kurama? Do you think I should apologize to him now? "
"What, now? No. Let him cool off, Kit."
"Why doesn't he get how I feel? I just want to let him have some time alone with his family, that's all."
"Aren't they your family too?"
"Adoptive, yes. Blood, no. Is it so wrong to let Ke be alone for a moment with his family? "
"The real question is, why are you so determined to make the Uchiha be with his family? Or rather, why are you so determined to distance yourself from them?"
Naruto sighed and rolled over. "Kurama, I do love them. I really do. But it's just too hard to try and get close to them."
"But why, Kit? Why can't you get close to them?"
Naruto stayed silent.
"You're afraid of being hurt, aren't you?"
"With the possibility of a new war coming because of Yahiko. . . and add to the fact that we don't know who this "Madara" is. It's only a possibility he's being controlled or taken advantage of. Obito is saved, so who is he? " Naruto gripped his hair in frustration.
"Kit, for once second focus on yourself instead of the world. Ask yourself this: Why won't you let them break down your walls? You give them a mask of happiness, of familiarity, but you have walls around your heart that they have yet to break down."
"What do I owe them, that they would take me in? " Naruto questioned the fox. "Why would they? Did they just pity me, or did they sincerely want me as their son? "
"Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs, the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to make you smile and who love you no matter what."
A soft voice made Naruto jerk up. "M-Mom?! "
"If you wouldn't listen to me, I figured you would listen to them," Sasuke's amused voice joined in.
"Th-Them?! "
"Hello little brother. Is this why you have decided to shut yourself in? "
"Naruto even if you aren't blood, Mikoto and I still consider you our son. Don't ever allow yourself to think differently."
Naruto said nothing before he let a smile cross his face. "Ne, Kurama. Did you know about this? "
"My job was to simply guide you. I was just letting the Uchiha do the rest."
"Thank you. . ."
"For what? " Sasuke asked.
"For giving me a new belief. For giving me a family. For everything."
"It's okay. What are brothers for? "
"Naruto, what's your new belief? " Fugaku questioned curiously.
Naruto smiled. "You've probably heard this quite a few times. But now I actually understand what it means. Ohana."
"Ohana. . . that means family, right? "
"And family means no one gets left behind or forgotten," Naruto and Sasuke said softly.
Down in the living room, Mikoto, Fugaku and Itachi smiled at each other.
Story time could wait.
Family members always came first.
Wow, this is very long too. 3776 words!