I DO NOT OWN NARUTO
The very worst part of grief is that you can't control it. The best we can do is try to let ourselves feel it when it comes. And let it go when we can.
"As long as I live, you live. As long as I live, you will be remembered. As long as I live, you will be loved. You are missed each and every day, for you were someone special to me who meant more than words can say. Thank you for being by my side for many years, for my whole life until now. Goodbye Bonnie."
~ the girl who lost her beloved dog [aka., the author/me]
I have lost a piece of myself I will never get back.
Will it ever stop hurting?
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So this chapter focuses on the three days Yahiko was out, and afterwards in case you are confused.
Also, my apologies but I need more ideas now that I've done the major ones that were requested. Right now I'm just gonna focus on a little bit of peace. . . again. What's the next major thing you want to happen?
I didn't finish the Naruto series, in case you're wondering, so if there's a major canon scene you want me to write about I'll just research it :)
Anyway, onto the little time-travelers!
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Around 8:00 in the evening, as the sky was darkening, the Leaf Legion were once again seated in a circle on Training Ground 7, although they were all quite tired.
Hinata had fallen asleep on Kiba's shoulder, Ino on Sai's and Tenten in Neji's lap.
While they were prodigies for their age and possessed the skill of their future selves, their little kid bodies couldn't handle so much strain and chakra-draining jutsu, even with the extensive training they all took up the day they received their memories.
"So," Sasuke stifled a yawn, "it's been a long day, huh?"
Everyone nodded sleepily in agreement, except for the girls who were fast asleep.
"Good job all of you," Naruto smiled wearily as he felt his mind fogging with sleep. "We should probably go back home and catch some rest."
"Yeah," Shikamaru groaned as he stretched. "They'll probably interrogate us tomorrow morning anyway, troublesome."
"I wonder how Yahiko is doing. . ." Sakura trailed off thoughtfully.
"Baa-chan said he'd be out for a while," Naruto informed them as he felt Sasuke's head drop heavily onto his shoulder.
Sakura stifled a giggle, smiling at the brothers.
Lee yawned widely, and the Leaf Legion took it as their cue to leave and go home to sleep properly. Lee picked up Tenten as they lived in the same neighbourhood as Neji picked up Hinata, Shino and Kiba following them since their clan compounds were near. Sakura gently shook Ino awake, and the two girls left with one half-asleep girl leaning on the other. Shikamaru and Choji both left together, leaving Sasuke and Naruto alone on the Training Ground.
Naruto shifted his head to look at his asleep brother, and he smiled softly.
The blonde laid a gentle hand on the raven's shoulder and Hiraishined them to their bedroom where he shifted Sasuke onto the soft mattress and he left to change into his pyjamas which consisted simply of orange tracksuit pants and a baggy short-sleeved teal shirt.
When he came back, Sasuke was half-awake, rubbing his eyes. "Oh hey 'Ruto, you Hiraishin us here?"
Naruto nodded and climbed into his side of the bed, which was the left side closest to the window and furthest from the door. Sasuke's side was on the right, which was closest to the door.
(In case you wanted visualisation of Sasuke's room. Ignore the Hokage and Kakashi and pretend it's nighttime)
Sasuke slipped off to change into his own pyjamas which was white pyjama shorts and a short-sleeved navy blue shirt. Pretty much his day outfit only more comfortable and the pyjama material, and his shirt didn't have a high collar.
Sasuke stayed awake long enough to walk like a drunken man towards the bed and fell onto it, rolling over beside Naruto with a soft groan.
"Long day, huh Ke," Naruto mumbled as he lifted up the blanket and then dropped it over them both.
"Let's hope neither you or I have any nightmares tonight. I don't particuarly feel like waking up in the middle of the night or early in the morning," Sasuke grumbled.
Naruto only grunted softly in agreement.
Around 10 minutes later, when Itachi peeked on his brothers to see why they hadn't come down for dinner, he let a smile shape his lips as he saw how peacefully they slept. Mikoto and Fugaku came up 5 minutes later to join him, the former quietly cooing at the adorable scene.
Sasuke was lying fully stretched on his back with his left arm stretched out, his right hand over his stomach. Naruto was curled up facing Sasuke, his neck resting on the latter's arm.
Both were breathing evenly, and the peaceful, childish innocence was portrayed on their faces.
Itachi, who knew their innocence was never there to begin with, felt as if they had regained some innocence if that was possible. At this scene, he would've thought them as pure little boys who had yet to see the horrors of the world.
"Let them be," Fugaku grunted at last. "They had it hard, fighting all day to protect the village. All the kids did. We'll talk to them tomorrow."
Mikoto nodded, smiling as she went over to kiss both boy's foreheads before closing the door gently.
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Naruto's eyes cracked open. "Mornin' teme," he slurred out as he rolled over onto his back.
Sasuke only groaned. "Too early dobe," he mumbled in reply.
Naruto chuckled as he sat up and opened his mouth in a silent yawn, stretching his arms out in front of him as his back cracked and popped.
"Oh that feels so much better," Naruto sighed as he moved his head, cracks sounding in his neck.
Sasuke grimaced as he propped himself up on his elbows. "Ruto don't crack your neck, it's creepy."
Naruto smirked slightly as he squinted at the glow-in-the-dark digital clock. 4:15am
"Ruto why are you awake at bloody freaking four in the morning?" Sasuke asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm only awake if it's an emergency."
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, probably because we went to bed at like, eight last night."
Sasuke flopped back onto the bed. "Ugh I don't remember much, I was too tired. I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow."
"Boi, you fell asleep on my shoulder," Naruto deadpanned. "Then I Hiraishined us here and you woke up just long enough to change into your pyjamas and crawl into bed."
Sasuke looked down at himself. "Oh, nice pyjamas."
Naruto facepalmed.
Sasuke sighed loudly as he rolled over to his right side, hugging Naruto's orange pillow as he did so, his spikes resting on his own navy blue one. "Well I'm going back to sleep."
Naruto snorted. "Hey, don't take my pillow to hug."
Sasuke rolled over slightly, half-opening his bleary eye. "You wanna replace it?"
"No thanks."
"Then leave me in peace, or you can get my stuffed dino."
"Yeah I'm gonna go make breakfast now. Feel free to wake up when the pancakes are eaten."
Sasuke's eyes shot open and he bolted right up. "I'm awake."
Naruto chuckled. "Lemme just get dressed and then you take a shower while I make the pancakes."
"Different shapes?"
"S-Sure. . ." Naruto swore Sasuke was drooling as he looked up with starry eyes at his blonde brother.
Sasuke let out a whoop as he jumped off the bed and dashed into the bathroom, locking it with a loud bang.
Naruto winced slightly at the sound, but he was smiling. He hummed to himself as he pulled out his normal day clothes and got changed before traipsing down the stairs to start breakfast.
He switched on the gas stove with the pan on top, and started drawing on the pan with a squeeze bottle. Not ten minutes later, Sasuke was bounding down the stairs with a very energetic spring in his step.
Naruto slipped the pancake onto the plate beside him and set it down in front of his brother who was bouncing in his seat like a little kid on Christmas Day.
Sasuke let out a childish squeal at the shape of the pancake. "It's Mr Dinosaur from Peppa Pig!" he squealed.
Naruto's eye twitched as he went back to the stove, enduring ten minutes of Sasuke "fangirling" over the pancake before he finally started eating the pancake. Albeit slowly and carefully.
Just as Sasuke slowly cut off one of Mr Dinosaur's spikes, not wanting to "hurt" it, who should be tapping on the window but Sakura!
"I thought you were making pancakes," Sakura smiled as she sat perched on the window sill.
Naruto rolled his eyes and let her in. "I'll set about making it," he interrupted as the pinkette smiled and sat down opposite Sasuke who was still very reluctant to eat his pancake.
"Thanks Naru!" Sakura squealed as Naruto set down another plate before her. This pancake was shaped as a leafy sea-dragon.
The pinkette also started "fangirling" over the art of the pancake, and refused to eat it until Naruto gave up his camera to the girl.
She took about five dozen shots.
Naruto just sighed through his nose and went to cook some pancakes for himself, and the rest of his family.
First he made one for his father, then his mother, then his older brother, and then finally for himself. For his own, he tried something new and added colour to his animal. It turned out pretty well in his opinion.
Sakura cooed at the fox face and insisted on taking ten dozen shots of it just to remember his very first coloured pancake, something Naruto endured while rolling his eyes good-naturedly.
"Just eat," he said flatly, noticing that they still hadn't eaten their pancakes, save for some missing legs or spikes.
His teammates pouted but obliged as they slowly and tearfully cut up their masterpiece pancakes.
Naruto had no such sentiments, and simply stared at the fox for a moment before cutting off the fox's ears and shoving it into his mouth.
His teammates stared in horror at how mercilessly he had just cut off the ears and eaten them, before he gave them a deathly glare which told them to shut up and eat.
They hastily obeyed.
While they ate, they talked. They talked of the answers they would have to give numerous questions of varying subjects, very sure they would be interrogated later that day after the battle they had just participated in the day before.
When they were at last done, Sakura wrote three notes and gave them to Naruto, who held three plates in his hands. He then took a quick trip upstairs to deliver the pancakes to his still-sleeping family, gently placing them on their bedside tables.
Naruto took a sneak-peek at each note, and chuckled inwardly at the writing style. Sakura really hadn't changed. He let a smirk lift his lips as he spoke. "Henge."
He turned into Might Gai.
Then his hands shifted. "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
A Shadow Clone appeared and smirked back at him, henging into Rock Lee as he went into Itachi's room.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto positioned himself by the curtains, sending a telepathic message to his teammates to meet him at Training Ground 7.
"I'm all ready boss," his Shadow Clone said telepathically.
"Okay. One. . . two. . . three! "
"RISE AND SHINE MY YOUTHFUL DUCKLINGS, FOR THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH IS UPON US!" Both he and his Shadow Clone screamed, throwing open the curtains so blinding light poured into the room.
Mikoto and Fugaku shot up the moment Naruto screamed "youthful" and stared at him with wide, horror-filled eyes.
Naruto did a "nice Gai pose" and then jumped out the window at exactly the same time his Shadow Clone did, however it dispelled the moment it hit the ground.
Grinning, Naruto flashed to the Training Ground before his family would have enough sense to go to the window to see which direction he took off at.
"Leaf Legion, you awake? I have a GREAT story to tell you guys, " Naruto grinned, plopping between his eyebrow-raised teammates out on the Training Ground.
"This is Neji here, Hinata and I are on our way," Neji answered almost immediately.
"As am I! Tenten is with me! " Lee replied energetically.
"Ino here. Sai is with me. Shika and Cho aren't awake yet, I'm going over to wake them up," Ino informed them, with a slight devious tone to her voice.
Sakura's eyes gleamed at that, and Sasuke and Naruto shuddered. If Sakura had been teaching Ino. . . the two both wished Shikamaru and Choji well.
"Shino. I'm going to wake up Kiba. Why? Because he stayed up late last night doing who-knows-what," Shino stated in a monotone.
"*yawn* Hey Naruto, it's Karin. Suigetsu and Jūgo just woke up so we might be a bit late."
"That's alright Karin, I trust you can find your way to Training Ground 7? "
"Yeah I just have to use Mind's Eye of Kagura right? "
"Right."
"See you then. . . geez it's too early for this."
Naruto chuckled as Kurama deactivated the link. He turned to his teammates with a broad smile.
"What do we break to them first?"
"Interrogation," Sakura said simply. "Then we discuss answers to make sure our answers are all the same so the adults don't start getting suspicious."
"And then we talk about the attack and how we have to act so the adults don't think we discussed the answers beforehand," Sasuke cut in.
"You know we should also think about how to rise to our former ranks as quickly as possible," Naruto said thoughtfully. "We keep slipping into them so instinctively, it's bound to raise questions."
"And we do that how?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"The Kage appoints Jonin, so there is no exam we have to go through," Naruto said in his "thinking hard" position. "However we'd have to be at least eleven before we do that. Itachi was eleven when he entered ANBU in the former future."
"Itachi is five to six years older than me, so he'll be either eleven or twelve," Sasuke offered.
"So in the former future he would've been in ANBU, if our father hadn't changed his ways," Naruto nodded to himself. "Kakashi was promoted to Jonin at age twelve. So we wait until we're twelve then."
"Twelve? Why not eleven?"
"Because," Naruto said patiently, "Mom and Dad probably wouldn't want us to go into such a high rank at such a "young age". Also, at age twelve we would've become Genin. I guess it just makes sense that way for me."
Sasuke and Sakura slowly nodded.
"I see, but we'll discuss it when the rest of the legion gets here."
"Yes, we shouldn't decide things without them."
"Also, what about that great story?" A twinkle shimmered in Sasuke's eye. "Did you pull a prank on Mom, Dad and Itachi-nii?"
Naruto whistled innocently, looking up at the brightening sky.
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged fond, knowing looks.
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"RISE AND SHINE MY YOUTHFUL DUCKLINGS, FOR THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH IS UPON US!"
Mikoto and Fugaku were jerked from their sleep from that omnious wake-up call. The second they opened their eyes they were greeted by the horrifying sight of Might Gai standing in their bedroom, bathed by the blinding sun rays.
He gave them his signature pose, teeth pinging before he jumped out the window.
Mikoto and Fugaku were both too stunned to do anything, and simply sat there in shock. A minute later Itachi crashed into their bedroom, wide-eyed with a paper in his hand.
"M-Mother! Father! Did you see the note on your bedside tables?!" Itachi shouted frantically.
"Might Gai. . . was in our bedroom. . ." Mikoto only said dazedly.
Itachi stopped and shuddered as he remembered the terrifying wake-up call from Rock Lee, on of his little brother's friends if he remembered correctly. Oh, a mini Might Gai. How horrifying.
"I'm guessing you got a "youthful" wake-up call too?" he asked lamely.
Fugaku's head snapped to him. "Don't you dare utter that vile word in my presence, son."
Itachi nodded numbly.
"So what was that you were saying?"
"Uh, notes? On your bedside table?" Itachi sneaked a glance at his mother's. "And pancakes. Animal shaped pancakes. . ."
Mikoto looked over and picked up the neatly folded note.
"A-Ah Father you should read it first!" Itachi quickly intercepted as he swiped the note and gave it to his father.
Mikoto raised her eyebrow but didn't question it futher, choosing instead to admire her bilby pancake.
Fugaku's eye twitched the moment he read the note. He lowered it from his face and stared at his son with a twitching eye.
"Is this. . .?"
"Yes."
"By her. . .?"
"Yes."
"And did they. . .?"
"Yes."
Fugaku facepalmed. "Mikoto-chan, don't read the note," he ground out.
"Why, what happened?" Mikoto asked as she popped the bilby's tail into her mouth, savouring the taste and texture.
Fugaku only scrunched up the note and turned to the side to see his pancake which was shaped like a predatory cheetah.
He smiled slightly as he lifted the plate. How nice. It almost washed away his irritation at Sakura's note. He really had enough of those. . .
"Itachi what animal was your pancake?" Mikoto asked, obliviously happy. Little of her bilby pancake remained.
"An eagle," Itachi said calmly as he came back in with a plate in his hands.
Mikoto looked at the animal and suppressed a squeal at how artistically it was drawn. An eagle about to take flight.
Fugaku simply took another bite of his pancake as he thought on the words of the note.
"Hi Fugaku-san,
Naruto, Sasuke and I have gone out! At 5:00am in the morning! Guess what we're doing!
That's right, the two boys are gonna spar and probably destroy the Training Ground while they're at it, or even better, the whole village! Now wouldn't that be fun to see?
Also, we're gonna be really busy, so don't look for us and don't be surprised if we show up after a week looking half-dead. We've got a lot of work to do and little time to finish them all! But don't worry we're not gonna leave again like we did last time.
Oh yeah, do you think you could fill out some Jonin recommendation forms for the boys? We're aiming for Jonin and then ANBU so we can go on assassination missions because they sound so fun! Just the word "assassination" makes me shiver in delight!
Love,
Sakura-chan."
Fugaku sighed as he wolfed down the rest of the pancake. He would worry about that later. Right now -
"F-Fugaku-kun?" His wife's weak voice stuttered.
'Oh sh-t,' was the only thought going through the Uchiha clan head's head as he slowly turned to see Mikoto trembling as she held the note she had swiped from Itachi who was desperately trying to get it back.
"W-What is this?"
Fugaku facepalmed. 'NARUTO GET THE HELL BACK HERE AND DEAL WITH YOUR MOTHER! ' he yelled mentally.
"Alright alright, calm down Dad, what happened? " His blonde son's somewhat annoyed voice asked in his mind, eliciting a bug-eyed reaction from his dad.
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". . . and then I sent my Shadow Clone into Itachi's room," Naruto continued in a very creepy voice.
"Yeah, like hell you did. How many traps did Itachi have?" Sasuke asked excitedly.
Sakura giggled as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Not everyone's paranoid like you, Ke."
"Well not everyone has an immortal pedo-snake Sannin after them, do they?" Sasuke shot back with an eye roll.
"No," Sakura smiled, "but I'm sure Itachi had a very creaky door or something."
"Oh yeah, I think that was it," Naruto nodded, "because my Shadow Clone had to do something to the hinges before going in."
"Anyway, going on with the prank?" Neji gestured for him to continue.
"Oh yeah! I henged into Gai-sensei -"
"Ewww!" Ino, Tenten and Sakura chorused. Neji looked slightly disgusted while Lee stared at the Uzumaki with starry eyes.
"- and stood by the curtains," Naruto said, ignoring the comments and looks. "It took me only three seconds to wait before throwing open the curtains and screaming, "RISE AND SHINE MY YOUTHFUL DUCKLINGS, FOR THE SPTRINGTIME OF YOUTH IS UPON US!"
Everyone in the Leaf Legion, except for Lee, Sai and Shino, burst out laughing as Naruto's enthusiastic shout left his lips. Sai and Shino were chuckling quietly while Lee was just staring starry-eyed at what he believed to be a comrade who had awakened to the ways of youth.
"Their faces were SO funny!" Naruto grinned.
"Damn Naruto, why did you send us out of the house? I would've liked to see that!" Sasuke gasped out, laughing.
"The escape would've been harder and they would've caught us," Naruto explained, beaming.
"Oi Kit, incoming voice message," Kurama's playful voice interrupted the blonde's laughter.
"Oh? Who from? "
"See for yourself if you can recognize who this frustrated being is."
"Fine, bring it in."
Fugaku's voice then shouted, "NARUTO GET THE HELL BACK HERE AND DEAL WITH YOUR MOTHER! "
Naruto cringed. "Alright alright Dad, calm down. What happened? "
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"W-What?! "
"Dad, Dad. Are you okay? "
"What the. . . Sasuke?! Is this TELEPATHY?! "
"Yes now please quit screaming in my head that's not very nice. I already have Ke and Saki both shrieking and squealing in my head and I don't really need another," Naruto deadpanned flatly.
"Oi! "
"That's not very nice Naru! "
"Shut up you two, you know it's true. I can't even begin to count how many headaches you gave me! " Naruto snapped.
Fugaku sweatdropped. "Naruto please hurry back and prove that note wrong. Sakura what is with your sadistic writing style? Mikoto's having a literal breakdown! "
"Oops. . ." Sakura said sheepishly.
"Yeah, "oops"," Sasuke snickered. "By the way Dad, I get that Saki's sadistic and all, but why is Mom having a breakdown? Something like that shouldn't effect her so badly."
"Don't you remember when you three just upped and left the village to get your friends? " Fugaku deadpanned.
"Oh. . ."
"Hn. How did I get into your telepathy link anyway? " Fugaku asked curiously.
"We'll talk about that later," Naruto dismissed. "Let me just explain to the Legion and then we'll flash there and out. In the meantime, try to calm Mom down. Without making it worse."
"I don't think a simple flash will work like that. . ."
"Shut up Ke you wouldn't know would you? "
"Well. . ."
"Exactly. Just as I thought."
"I-I know about a lot of things you don't! "
"Oh? Do tell."
{In case there are any "Throne of Glass" fans here who haven't finished the series, there are a few spoilers here. You have been warned}
"I. . . I know who Celaena Sardothien really is! "
"Aelin Ashryver Galanthynius, rightful Queen of Terrasen. That's old news, bro."
"Damnit. . . I know who she ends up with! "
"Prince Rowan Whitethorn. Already read "Heir of Fire". You gotta do better than that."
"Okay. . . Chaol gets paralyzed! "
"Yeah yeah yeah, and then he goes to Antica and then he meets a healer called Yrene Towers who is the unofficial heir to the Healer's Torre and then they fall in love. Chaol is completely healed and then stupidly ruins the weeks of healing away by throwing himself in front of Yrene to save her from a Valg attack, yaddy yaddy yah."
"What the hell?! How do you know?! "
"My dear, dear brother, I am a major fan of the "Throne of Glass" series. Except for the first two books. They sucked. The only good thing about them was Nehemia."
"I wanna kill the author for assassinating Nehemia."
"That makes two of us."
"Hn. Anyway Dad, did you enjoy the pancakes? " Sasuke asked, abruptly and randomly changing the subject yet again.
"Ke! Off topic! " Naruto snapped.
"Oh, like the previous subject wasn't off topic? "
"You were trying, and failing miserably might I add, to prove a point to me that links to the first topic."
"Whatever. Dad, what animal did you get? What about Mom? And Itachi? DId you like your animal? Did you even have an animal? "
"KE! This is not the time! "
"IT IS AND I WANNA KNOW! "
"You're whining and acting like a little kid."
"Maybe because I AM a little kid and you should know that! " Sasuke screamed in aggravation.
"You won't shut up you won't calm down man you're annoying," Naruto groaned before Fugaku felt the telepathic link disappearing from his mind.
Fugaku's eye twitched as he hung his head to hide it, then the corner of his mouth started twitching, his shoulders shaking as his fought to keep the laughter from bubbling. Eventually he lost, letting a snicker escape from his lips. Then another. He gave up competely and let out a roar of laughter, throwing his head back as he did so.
Itachi looked at him as if he was crazy. "Dad. . .?"
Fugaku only continued laughing like a madman. Even when his wife looked at him with tear tracks down her cheeks he didn't stop, didn't even try to cease his laughter. He only laughed and laughed and laughed.
He hadn't heard such pointless bickering in quite a while, at least not since Minato had died. He hated to admit it but he did miss such pointless things which greatly amused him. He couldn't help remembering the time when he and Minato had argued quite similarly over a book series. "Ranger's Apprentice" if his memory served him correctly.
A flash of golden fire at the corner of his eye finally made him attempt to stop, although the progress was slow. When he finally ceased his laughing to occasional snorts of laughter, he saw his two youngest sons staring at him with expressions like they were desperately trying to stop laughing as well.
"Dad. . . why were you laughing like a madman? " Sasuke asked telepathically, pressing his trembling lips together tightly.
"Because you reminded me of myself and Minato, when we were children."
"Oh? How so? " Naruto was intrigued.
"We'd have pointless arguments, just like you two."
"They are not pointless! " the two Uchiha brothers cried indignantly in unison, glaring slightly at their amused father.
"Oh yeah, would either of you know the reason why Rock Lee and Might Gai were in mine and Itachi's bedroom this morning? " Fugaku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well. . . Sasuke's haircut looks like a duck's ass and so the only thing that came into my mind was that I should've said "youthful ducks" instead? " Naruto offered nervously and at a very quick pace.
The three stared at each other for a full minute, lips pressed so tightly they turned white.
Itachi's and Mikoto's eyes darted back and forth between them.
A gleam shone in Fugaku's eyes as the corners of his sons' lips twitched upwards.
Fugaku closed his eyes and adopted his "stern Uchiha clan head" pose, chanting mentally 'You are Fugaku Uchiha of the Uchiha clan, you will not laugh because of a pointless argument. You are Fugaku Uchiha of the Uchiha clan. . .'
Sasuke simply scrunched up his nose in his effort of prevention.
Naruto was chanting 'don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh don't you dare f---ing laugh Naruto Uzuchiha! '
All three methods failed.
Miserably.
The three burst out laughing again, doubled over in hysterics of pretty much nothing. At least, to Itachi and Mikoto.
"Okay first of all, why are you laughing? Secondly, what are you boys doing here? And thirdly, Sakura what is with your writing style?" Itachi interrupted.
"MY YOUTHFUL DUCKLINGS!" Naruto only screamed out between bouts of laughter.
"AWAKEN TO THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" Sasuke screamed before collapsing as he rolled around in hysterics.
Mikoto looked confused but Itachi's mouth fell open.
"You were the ones that woke us up?!" Itachi cried in shock. "Henged as the horrifying, youthful green-spandex-wearing horrors?"
Sasuke stuck out his tongue in reply.
"By the way, Saki says the note was just a joke," Naruto said after rolling his eyes. "She was totally wrong about the sparring but she wasn't wrong about destroying the Training Ground. She was right about us being very busy and she is both wrong and right when she said we want you to fill out Jonin Application forms."
Mikoto blinked.
Twice.
Thrice.
Itachi blinked.
Twice.
Thrice.
Fugaku pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"You want us to. . . fill out Jonin Application forms?" Mikoto said at last, in a very slow and uncertain way.
But obviously they had taken too long absorbing the information and the two boys had already turned to their own conversations.
{Lol anyone who can get where the lines came from gets a dedication next chapter :P}
"No no no," Naruto was saying, "if you want to speak in a gentlemanly way to pick up a lady, you could say, and this is only a suggestion. "Hello there, whatever-your-name-is, might I say you pick up a perfect 10 on my niftiness metre? " Although that would be too weird, now that I think about it."
"Yeah, oh! What if you like. . ." Sasuke stopped to compose himself. "Mademoiselle, my life was but a mere whisper until you entered into it. Whether it was by chance, or blind fate or kismet if you will that brought us together, I would be remiss to let this moment pass without telling you how deeply you have affected the very core of my being."
Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other for a moment before the blonde tackled the raven to the ground, screaming, "OH BABY!"
Sasuke gave a shout of shock as Naruto tackled him, adding to the ruckus. The raven quickly rolled the blonde underneath him, effectively sparking a wrestling match that mostly consisted of both trying to flip each other over to gain the upper hand and claim victory. Neither was winning.
"Kami what did they have this morning to make them so hyper?" Fugaku muttered under his breath before clearing his throat and speaking louder. "Boys, I believe your mother was asking you both a question."
The two looked up simultaneously, Sasuke having just wrestled himself on top of Naruto.
"Hn?"
"Hm?"
Fugaku sweatdropped at the very similar responses. "Your mother asked about the Jonin Application forms."
"Oh yeah, about that. We'd like them now, but if you must wait, maxiumum age we're going to wait for is twelve," Naruto said firmly.
"Twelve. Twelve?! " Itachi yelled. "Most kids at that age become Genin. GENIN Naruto!"
"Calm yourself, Itachi-nii. You've seen what we can do," Naruto said calmly with a dismissive manner. It reminded Sasuke of when a frantic Chuunin had come in freaking out about sand that was flying everywhere through the village. Naruto had been hung up in the air by a tendril of sand wrapped around his ankle while he did some paperwork upside down, dismissing the urgency with a simple, "Calm yourself, I'll be with you in a minute."
Sasuke snorted a little when he remembered the Chuunin's face after seeing the Seventh Hokage being hung upside down by sand while he picked up papers, signed them and placed them back on his desk like it was an everyday thing. Then Naruto had replaced the current paper and folded his hands as he asked the Chunnin what the matter was.
". . . uke? Um, Sasuke?" Naruto waved his hand in front of his brother's glazed expression, worry etched on his face.
"O-Oh! What were you asking?" Sasuke asked, blinking out of his daydream-memory.
"We are very sure about wanting to be Jonin, right?" Naruto repeated patiently.
"OH! Yeah, we're really sure. Like, really really REALLY sure," Sasuke nodded vigorously, eyes wide with eagerness.
Mikoto still looked uncertain, and was about to voice her doubts when Naruto turned to Sasuke.
"Ke, remind me why we should be Jonin?"
"Well let's see, we defeated Orochimaru at the Forest of Death and fought in the Sand and Sound Invasion. We also defeated the Six Paths of Pain and bought enough time for Nagato and Konan to knock out Yahiko," Sasuke listed off.
"Oh yes, so wouldn't you say we are quite qualified to make Jonin?"
"Very much so."
"So would you have any doubts if the applications were filled and submitted?"
"None at all."
"Good, except our dear mother here is having doubts."
"Hn, I wonder what she would say if I said I was aiming for ANBU."
"I think we all are, Ke."
"Well it's the closest thing to our. . . positions."
Naruto scoffed slightly. "Let's review the teams then, shall we? Team 8 would make an excellent Tracking Team, since they have the Aburame bugs, the Byakugan and an Inuzuka dog. Team 9 is the Specialist Team since it is composed of two Taijutsu Specialists and one Ninja Weapons Specialist. Team 10 is the Ino-Shika-Cho of this generation, need I say more?"
"Team Hajimari?"
"An Uzumaki with chakra-regeneration abilities, a boy who can turn himself into water, and another boy who has uncontrollable strength with excellent teamwork."
"And Team 7?"
"Team 7 is Team 7, composed of a jinchuuriki, an Uchiha prodigy and a medic."
"Hmm, I'd say that's pretty good Jonin material if you ask me. And all the teams have flawless teamwork nailed down," Sasuke nodded to himself.
"Should we be having doubts?"
"None, especially with the proof we provided. I stand confidently on solid ground," Sasuke grinned.
"YOSH! WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH, WE SHALL ALL BE JONIN BY THE TIME THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH ARRIVES!" Lee screamed as he crashed through the bedroom window, landing heavily on the ground.
Mikoto and Itachi wore freaked out expressions, wide-eyed with horror at the mini-Gai. Fugaku only sighed and hung his head, already too used to his kids' antics to be freaked out.
"Lee! Stop being so rude!" Neji shouted as he jumped into the room, glaring with his Byakugan active. His eyes scanned the room, searching for Kiba who had crashed in with Lee but then disappeared somewhere.
As he did so, Sasuke immediately tackled him to the ground.
"What the hell Sasuke?!" Neji shouted as he wrestled the Uchiha, fighting for his right to stand up.
"Don't scan the room with your Byakugan on you idiot!" Sasuke shrieked. "There's a woman in the room! And my mom at that!"
Neji's face turned beetroot red and he quickly deactivated his Byakugan. "S-Sorry Sasuke."
Sasuke growled slightly as Mikoto dove underneath her covers, making Fugaku chuckle.
"I'm still not sure about that Jonin Application," Itachi frowned, crossing his arms.
"Aw, 'Tachi," Naruto whined. "What motivation do you -"
"LET THE POWER OF YOUTH COMPEL YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Lee screamed as he bound into the room, Kiba hot on his heels as he wolfed down a burger.
"DON'T GO RAIDING MY KITCHEN!" Naruto roared as he punched Kiba's head, the Inuzuka crashing to the floor with a giant bump on his head. Akamaru whined at his partner's treatment.
"Shut it Fluffy," Naruto snapped, "unless you wanna be hit too."
"Naruto's being hanging around Sakura too much," Sasuke whispered to Neji, who nodded solemnly.
"And he's possessive over his kitchen. Wonder why," Neji murmured back, mouth twitching as he fought his urge to laugh at Kiba's pathetic look.
"He's the cook of the family," Sasuke said simply with a shrug.
"I thought your mom cooked. . ."
"Well since Ruto and I have a habit of getting up at "unearthly hours", he decided to start cooking again."
"Again?"
"Well when he was an orphan, Ichiraku's owner taught him how to cook when he couldn't afford stuff, since the Hokage provided him with food necessities."
"Sasuke," Fugaku called over, "get your water friend under control."
"My what now?" Sasuke deadpanned.
"The boy who can turn into water. I know for a fact this roof doesn't leak, so I'm fairly sure unless it's a thunderstorm outside, it should be your friend playing around," Fugaku grunted.
"Ugh," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Suigetsu!"
"Yo, wassup?"
"Quit leaking through my roof, please."
"Wow, the almighty Uchiha actually said "please". Also, I'm not leaking, I'm dripping."
"That sounds disgusting," Neji stated.
"So wrong, in so many ways," Naruto added, looking disgusted himself.
"Mind out of the gutters," Fugaku snapped.
"Too late, Father, too late," Itachi sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.
"Much too late," Kiba added. His comment was rewarded with another thwack on the head which left him sprawled on the ground with swirly eyes, another bump growing out of his head.
"In what way?" A head formed out of the water, hanging upside down from the ceiling.
Naruto groaned when he saw his adoptive mother stifle a scream at the creepy sight. "Suigetsu get your watery ass down here and quit scaring people. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Oh, that's right. Sakura told me to get you, quickly. Something's going on with your -"
"NARUTO! SASUKE! C'MERE, WHERE ARE YOU!" a panicked voice screamed as the double doors were flung open and a frantic, wide-eyed Obito ran into the room in a cloud of dust.
"Wha -"
Naruto didn't finish his sentence as both he and Sasuke were thrown over the man's shoulder, the older Uchiha speeding out like fire-breathing dragons were on his tail.
"SLOW DOWN YOU MORON!" Sasuke yelled as he hit Obito's head in a futile attempt to slow him down, or at lesat get him thinking again.
"NO TIME BAKASHI NEEDS YOU HE'S FLIPPING OUT!" the older Uchiha screamed as an explanation.
Naruto sighed, chin in hand as he dangled over the man's shoulder, not even attempting to slow him down or yell in protest. For one thing, he could go much faster because he was the son of the Yellow Flash after all, and for another it would be in vain since Obito was clearly panicked and Sasuke's hits weren't working in the slightest.
"Naruto, help me!" Sasuke whined.
Naruto sighed again, rolling his eyes. "Oh good grief, just electrocute him."
"Good idea!" Sasuke brightened up.
"Oh hell no, we're nearly at the hospital you little brats," Obito snarled as he barrelled through the hospital doors and swerved left, skidding to a stop or at least trying to.
"Obito what are you doing?" Kakashi's voice cried as he snatched the two kids just in time as his old teammate who smashed into the wall, unable to stop in time.
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," Naruto sighed a huge sigh of relief. "I was worried my legs were gonna be crushed by that pyscho."
"Why did he bring you here?" Kakashi said, confused as he set down the two boys.
"Hn, he might've screamed something about you flipping out," Sasuke offered as an explanation from the screams Obito had voiced as explanation to the annoyed boys.
"I'm not flipping out," Kakashi said flatly, eye twitching. "I just happened to be rather worried, that's all."
"Worried? Why? And why are you at the hospital?" Sasuke asked in confusion.
Kakashi sighed as he slid a hand down his face. "A few weeks ago, Rin got sick. Started vomiting every morning. I finally managed to convince her to go the hospital today."
Naruto pursed his lips. "Sasuke, didn't Ino. . .?"
Sasuke's face twitched. "Never bring that up around her. I didn't restore that part of her memory, or Sai's. They were so close, I figured it'd be too painful to have them remember it and the loss since Ino's former death."
Naruto nodded understandingly. "Didn't revive it in any of the others either, did you?"
"Nope. Ino wasn't the only one, remember? Tenten was too, although she was later than Ino. Much, much later."
"Oh. . ."
"We are talking about?" Kakashi questioned with a blank look.
The two boys turned to him with annoyed auras. "I thought you read Icha-Icha."
"Not anymore."
"How could you not tell the signs?" Naruto sighed.
"What signs?"
"Oh good grief! Rin's pregnant, congratulations idiot," Naruto deadpanned just as the nurse opened the office door with a smile on her face.
"Rin's pregnant, congratulations," the nurse said at the same time Naruto spoke the same words.
The boy and the nurse looked at each other for a moment before the nurse let out a giggle. "Looks like this boy here figured it out before you did, Hatake-san."
Rin came out of the office, a hand on her belly. "Kakashi-kun, did you hear the news?"
"From two people," Kakashi answered, smiling.
"So, any ideas for a name?" Rin was also smiling as she walked towards her husband after thanking the nurse. "Or should we let Obito pick?"
{A/N: They got married sometime before, during or after the Chuunin Exams. Couldn't be bothered writing the scene lol}
"That idiot would probably pick something ridiculous," Kakashi scoffed.
"Hmm, what about Sakumo if it's a boy?" Rin suggested.
Kakashi stopped in his tracks. "After my father. . .?"
"Why not?" Rin tipped her head to the side, smiling sweetly. "It would be nice, especially if he has your white hair."
"Silver," Kakashi corrected as he walked to her side. "It's silver."
Rin chuckled. "Whatever you say, Kakashi-kun."
"We have an ideas!" Naruto cried, Sasuke jumping up and down beside him excitedly.
"Hmm?" Kakashi eye-smiled at his students. "Let's hear them then."
"If it's a girl you can call it Celaena or Aelin, or Sorscha, or Yrene! Oh oh oh! What about Elentiya or Nehemia? Or maybe Nesryn?" Naruto suggested a little too enthusiastically. And if it's a boy -"
"Call him Rowan or Aedion! Or Chaol or Dorian! Or Kashin!" Sasuke cut in, jumping a little higher with the look of a child on Christmas Day.
Kakashi and Rin sweatdropped. "How did you get those names? Although I have to say some of them are very good. . ."
"What do you think Rin?" Kakashi looked at the brunette beside him.
"I quite like the sound of Elentiya, but it could be too fancy. Aelin and Sorscha aren't too bad. I feel like Nesryn gives the image of someone who can fight, which would be nice," Rin nodded to herself. "As for boy names, I like Aedion or Kashin, and I still like Sakumo. What do you think Kakashi-kun?"
Kakashi hummed. "Looks like the kids thought about it more than we did. I think we might need to sleep on it. We'll let you boys know which one we pick, since your suggestions are all very good. Sound okay, boys?"
"Okay!" the boys answered happily in unison.
"We'll ask Saki's opinion on the girl names," Naruto added.
"Yeah! Oh, and Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke pulled Kakashi down, "have fun with her mood swings. Ino was horrible."
Kakashi paled.
"See ya and have fun!" Naruto called over his shoulder, grinning maniacally because he knew exactly what his brother had said.
"Annoying twerps," Kakashi mumbled under his breath before something hit him. "Hey brats! Inoichi told me to tell you if I saw you that the Leaf Legion is supposed to be at the Hokage's Office at 7! Better hurry and tell the others, it's already 6:55!"
"Okay!"
"Oh great, they didn't blow up," Kakashi sighed in relief.
Rin giggled. "Wait for it. . ."
"WHAT?! YOU TOLD US THIS JUST NOW?!" The boys screamed in anger once the actual message hit them, much to Kakashi's fear and Rin's amusement.
"KAKABAKA! "
Poll time!
KakaRin's child should be:
Boy
Girl
KakaRin's boy name preference should be:
Sakumo
Kashin
Aedion
KakaRin's girl name preference should be:
Aelin
Sorscha
Nesryn
Thank you for reading and voting (poll)! And this makes up a grand total of 7433 words! Another record breaker! Also, thanks to the people who understand my situation right now and why I took a break from writing.
SarcasticKitsune