A/N: She asked me to, and so I'm doing it. This is the sad sequel to Naruto and Hinata's married life.
Oh, you guys might not like it. Oh well.
Chapter one, hot off the presses.
Chapter 1: Christmas"Rei, could you give me a hand with this?" Hinata called, balancing the tray of hot turkey on her head as her left hand held a plate of shrimp, and her right hand held a tray laden with drinks.
Rei dashed into the kitchen, her white eyes slightly amused. "Man, mom, Hyuuga's sure have a good sense of balance."
"That may be true," Hinata said gratefully as Rei took the turkey of her head, "but I don't feel like training right now."
Rei placed the tray on the table, her chin-length bluish-black hair swinging. On the floor, Ken, her seven-year-old brother happily levitated a kunai, using his chakra, just like his father had taught him. His blue eyes flashed happily as the kunai levitated high above his head.
"Hey, mom," Rei said, choosing her words carefully, "have…have you heard from Shien lately?"
Though Hinata's back was to her thirteen-year-old daughter, Rei could see that she had stiffened.
"No," Hinata finally choked out, "no, I haven't."
"Do…do you think he's going to spend Christmas here?" she asked, flopping down on a chair.
"I…don't know. I…hope not."
"Why not?" she asked, eyebrow arched, "he is part of this family. Who he helped doesn't change he fact that he should be with us. Right now."
"You know your father," Hinata said softly, "he's…hot-headed. I don't even want to think how he'll react the next time he sees Shien."
Rei bit her lip and kept quiet.
From the floor, Ken looked up. "Hey, nee-san," he said, trying to change the subject, "the Jounin meeting for next week was canceled, right?"
"Yeah," she said, thankful for the tack change, "but the ANBU meeting is taking its place."
"As long as I'm not going," he shrugged, "Jounin duties are tough enough without the monthly meetings. And a week after Christmas, too. Dad must be insane."
"Well, ever since the Suna waged war, you can't blame him for trying to protect this village," Hinata said as she pulled a steaming apple pie from the oven.
"The Suna didn't wage war," Rei corrected her, "they said it was an accident. Gaara-sama even apologized."
"Yeah," Ken piped up, "Dad's just too cold to listen to him."
"Shh," Hinata said, pressing a finger to her lips, "someone's at the door. If that was your dad, you'd probably be looking at extra training."
They clamped their hands over their mouth as Hinata opened the door.
"Merry Christmas!"
Sakura greeted her with a big hug, wafting a smell of cherry into the house.
"Sakura-san," Hinata greeted her, hugging her back. "Merry Christmas."
"Annie!" Rei said, running to the door. Uchiha Annie was at least two years older than her, but they were best friends.
Annie grinned, her green eyes flashing. "Long time no see. You skipped last Jounin meeting."
"We were tired," she said, gesturing to Ken as well.
"Hokage-sama wasn't happy," Annie said, grinning.
"How I know," Rei rolled her eyes, "extra training. Thirty more minutes after sundown."
"Ouch." She said sympathetically.
"Sasuke-san," Hinata said cheerfully, her eyes resting on the tall, dark-haired nin. "Long time no see."
"You have to stop calling us 'san' all the time," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "It makes me twitch."
"Sorry." She said meekly. "How's Haru?"
"Right here." he said, smiling and hugging her. Sasuke's oldest son was at least a year older than Shien, and he was the spitting image of his father. His dark brunette hair was tied back into a ponytail, like his uncle, Itachi.
"We brought over cherry pie," Sakura said breathlessly, "you know, as an apology gift for not spending Christmas with you guys this year. You know my mom." She finished, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks," Hinata grinned, taking the pie.
"That smells pretty good."
Hinata promptly dropped the pie plate. Her eldest son, Shien, was standing right behind the Uchihas, a small, wan smile on his pale face.
"Shi-Shien," Hinata muttered, eyes wide.
Haru whipped around. "You…you're…you're here! You're back!"
Shien grinned. "Man, you're an ANBU, but you didn't even feel my presence? Gotta do better than that."
Haru's face broke into a small. He grabbed his hand, and the two bumped shoulders.
"You're back," he repeated in a hoarse whisper.
Shien nodded mutely. Haru let him go, and he turned and faced his mother. He was several inches taller than her, and it struck her just how frail she looked.
"Mom." He whispered.
He broke off as he felt her arms wrap him in a bone-crushing hug. He returned it, trying to bite back the emotions flooding him. For three, long years, he had been apart from his family.
He felt other arms wrap around him, a few small whimpers of "Nii-san," and "you're back."
He broke away to look at his siblings. Rei had definitely grown a lot, her eyes more steely and cold, but right now they were brimming with tears.
Ken had grown as well, no longer the bouncy boy he had left. He was now wearing the Jounin coat.
"Well," Sakura said, a smile touching her lips, "we'll leave you to your reunion."
They quietly left, disappearing into the cold, crisp winter night.
"Nii-san, nii-san," Ken said excitedly, "how's Gaara-sama? I heard he wasn't feeling well."
"Yep," he said, ruffling his younger brothers mass of bluish-black hair, "and I'm not surprised. He's handling a lot right now."
"I wish you'd been here to witness my being accepted into Jounin level," he said, his voice falsely cheerful, "all my classmates were there."
"Don't you mean your 'friends'?" Hinata said, looking at him, eyebrow arched.
Ken shook his head no. "I don't think they like me very much. They're always complaining that sensei treats me specially because I'm the Hokage's son. And they also say it's not fair that I'm in the same class as them since dad taught me more than they know. I told dad about it, but he said not to listen. He says they're just jealous."
"I don't want to hear about your Jounin life," he said, shaking his head. "I want to hear about your stories. I remember your last one, about the wandering shinobi who's blind. That was good. Did you finish it?"
Sullenly, he shook his head. "Dad tore it up."
"The whole 43 pages?"
"Uh-huh. He said I shouldn't be wasting my time with creating alternate worlds. Only weaklings write stories, he said."
"He's wrong," Shien said firmly, "and you know it. I suggest you try to start over. You've got talent for that kind of thing, and you ought to be utilizing it."
"Shien," Rei said, "why did it take you so long to come back?"
"You won't believe how many people are wounded because of this stupid war," he said gravelly, "I couldn't leave so quickly. And, don't forget that dad sent a couple of your ANBU buddies to chase me, so I had to lie low for a-" he broke off, the sound of the door creaking open taking away the noise in the room and leaving the heavy silence to hang.
Naruto's steel-blue eyes wandered over the whole family, before resting on his eldest son.
"So," he said softly, cerulean eyes flashing dangerously, "you've finally come back."
"Yeah," Shien said defiantly, aware of his brother and sister shrinking behind him, "yeah, I have."
"That's some courage, especially for a traitor like you."
"Please," Hinata cut in, voice trembling, "Naruto-kun, Shien, its Christmas! For once, please…please…can't we have a peaceful family gathering?"
Father and son glared at each other, their likeness striking. Shien looked like Naruto did, so many years ago…
Finally, Naruto broke the tension hovering. "You're right, Hinata," he said softly, "its Christmas. This family will be whole again, like before, although…"
"…we never really will be. Again." Shien finished, his thoughts on the same wavelength as Naruto's.
oOo
"I'll cut the turkey!" Ken announced, reaching for the knives.
"Slow down," Hinata said, "I don't feel comfortable with you holding those knives."
"Who said I'd hold them?" Ken asked, half-laughing, as he levitated the knives and angled them so he could make the first slice.
"I see you've finally gotten that technique," Naruto said approvingly as he reached for the soup.
"Oh, you mean the technique that only thirteen or fourteen-year-olds are capable of learning? Yeah, I guess he did." Shien said nonchalantly, reaching for the first slice of turkey.
He stopped when he noticed that the table was deathly quiet. He looked up.
Naruto was glaring at him, eyes filled with quiet anger.
"Uh…Rei, how's Annie doing in the ANBU?" Hinata said quickly, hoping to change the topic to a less dangerous one.
"Oh…yeah, she's fine." Rei said, cottoning on, "she's kind of bummed that they got to go escort the ninja back to the land of mists and she didn't. She's been wanting to see that land for ages."
"Pretty understandable," Hinata agreed, "the land of mists is well known for the mystery that enshrouds it."
Having nothing else to say, Rei simply nodded and silence resumed once more.
"Hey, Ken," Shien said suddenly, "how would you like to go sledding tomorrow? I bet I could still dig up my old sled up there."
Ken's face brightened. "Honest? That would be great!"
"You can't," Naruto cut in, "there's another ANBU meeting. Apparently, several members have been reported dead."
Shien glared at him angrily. "Dad, it's Christmas! I haven't seen Ken for three years."
"And whose fault is that?" Naruto said testily, "I didn't make you run away."
"Yeah, but you set your guard dog ninjas after, and they would have jailed me immediately! Of course I had to run away!"
"You've no one to blame but yourself," Naruto said, blue eyes ablaze with cold fire, "If you hadn't helped those…sanin," he said the word with distaste, "this never would have happened! You would be an ANBU already instead of an outcast! You could have been here to witness your brother and sisters promotion into ANBU instead of being-"
"Yeah, about that!" Shien cut in angrily, "I've been meaning to ask why the heck you'd let Ken into ANBU!"
"He's highly skilled, obviously," Naruto said coolly.
"He's a child, obviously!" Shien said exasperatedly. "For heavens sake, dad, ANBU members are in more danger than any other ninja! And he wouldn't even be highly skilled if you hadn't pushed him! If you had just let Rei and Ken train at their own pace, take up their own choice of hobby…"
"They'd be the laughingstock of town!" Naruto roared.
"They'd be happy!" Shien roared back.
"Are you insinuating that I'm mistreating them?"
"In a word…yes! Everything you make them do, everyway you want them to act, it's so that your name won't be tarnished! Won't be made fun of! Everything you do dampens the spirit of this family!"
"Liar!" Naruto yelled, standing up and upsetting the table slightly, "Everything I do is for this family!"
"Yeah, right!" Shien said, standing up as well, "You wanted me to become Hokage so that the Uzumaki clan name would be remembered, maybe even honored more, like the Uchiha! You pushed Ken, and look, you can proudly go around, saying, 'my son became a Chuunin at four, Jounin at six, and ANBU at seven.' You wanted Rei to be talked about, to be exalted by the sensei's, that you taught her techniques you knew perfectly well were beyond her capacity!"
"That's a lie, and you know it!"
"It's the truth, and you won't accept it!"
Naruto's hand started to glow, blue chakra swirling brilliantly in the palm of his hand.
"Naruto!" Hinata screamed, standing up, "No! Please…no…"
"I won't have an insolent brat speak to me like that!" Naruto yelled, "Especially one who turned his back to the whole village and helped the enemy!"
"The 'enemy' is your friend, Gaara-sama," he shot back, "and he wanted to apologize for the mass killing, wanted to explain, but you didn't give him a chance! Instead, you waged war!"
"Which we are winning, no thanks to you!"
"You're winning because Gaara-sama doesn't want to fight!" He said, tears starting to form, "and now, he's beating himself up, because he thinks that war is all his fault! He thinks he did something so wrong that not even the man who he thought was his best friend could forgive him! Why do you think he's so ill? Why do you think he's dying? Its emotional pain, dad, and you're not helping it heal! You're cold, dad! You're colder and more heartless than he ever was!"
Suddenly, a loud explosion interrupted them. Everyone jerked their head to the doorway.
Several masked ANBU were standing, their arms at ready.
"Naruto," Hinata whimpered, "no…"
Immediately, the ANBU converged on Shien, grabbing his arms and holding them painfully behind his back.
"NO!" Rei screeched, her milky-white eyes flashing. She leapt over the table and kicked them in mid-air, causing them to loosen their hold. She landed in front of her brother, eyes narrowed dangerously. "You can't take him! And I don't care what my father says!"
"Rei!" Naruto snapped.
"He's right!" she said, her voice mixed with panic, fear, and despair, "He's right, dad, he's right! I don't want this anymore! Everyday, my chakra level is lower than my classmates, leaving me exhausted, since I spent the morning training. People hate me because the teachers always use me as the model, saying that they need to reach my level, that they can't hope to reach my talent, that they're sure I can do a new technique easily…thanks to that-thanks to you-I don't have any friends at all!" She turned to the ANBU.
"I'm serious! Let him go, or…I'll kill you!"
"Rei," Naruto said, his voice calm, "come on. Be a good girl and don't stand in their way."
"No, no, no!" Ken yelled, running to join her, "You can't take him! You can't!" his voice was dripping with rage, "leave him alone, you big meanies!"
The ANBU still didn't do anything.
"I'm warning you," Rei said, her hands starting to glow. Hinata had helped her perfect the Hyuuga fighting style, the one thing Rei had actually wanted to learn.
Finally, the ANBU let go. Quickly, Rei and Ken ran up to hug him.
"Nii-san," Rei said urgently, "you have to leave Konoha. Go to Suna. Gaara-sama will understand."
He nodded. "Take care of each other. I don't know how long I'll be in hiding, so that means you're the eldest. Take care of your brother. No killing."
She chuckled, then nodded. A few tears rolled down her cheek.
"Ken," Shien continued, "you're the man of the family now. You can handle that, can't you?"
"I…I won't…l-l-let you down," he whispered, trying to look brave, but crying at the same time.
"Shien," Hinata murmured.
He looked at her, then wrapped her in a hug. "Be brave, mom," he whispered.
He looked up. Naruto was looking at him. His eyes gazed into Naruto's, and…he saw something. Regret? Guilt?
He turned away, leaped over the ANBU, and disappeared into the night.
Silence.
"He's now an S-rank criminal in the bingo book," Naruto said, turning to the ANBU, "alert all Jounin and ANBU, and bring him back."
They stood still, as if still waiting for something more.
He nodded. "Dead or alive."
"NOOO!" Hinata screamed. The ANBU disappeared into the night, deaf to her cries.
A/N: Yep, Naruto's completely OOC. If you don't like, it don't kill me! Please?
Okay…I'm done.