Disclaimer: Naruto and co. along with Naruto-related names are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot/story/ideas are all by me and I do not receive profit from writing this, and this is only for my own enjoyment. And as mentioned the quotes below in italics are by their right owners (I got them from the quotegarden website) .

Hope you enjoy the story.

Italics for thoughts, titles, quotes, flashbacks, etc.

Normal text for the story in general.

Bold for setting, chapter title, and notes at the bottom.


The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. ~From a headstone in Ireland

Prologue of Hidden Prince

Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant & Bar

October 10, 2008

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! I am Seishou, your waiter for day. So what drinks would you like to start off with?" Seishou asked to a couple in front of him. Being an orphan with no where else to go at the age of one, Teuchi and Ayame, owner and daughter of the bar and restaurant, took him into the world of ramen, hospitality and family. Although there were times of problems, Seishou loved being here and working for his pseudo-family.

The red-haired man of the couple said, "Well, I would like some Koke."

"And you?" Seishou turned to the brown-haired woman.

"Fireland's Ice Tea, if you have it," the woman said with a smile.

"All right," Seishou said as he written down the drinks. "Here are the menus, and I'll be back with the drinks. And by then, I hope you'll have your order ready. Okay?" The couple nodded and Seishou left them to the drink station.

Already at the drink station, a short green haired waitress was grumbling about serving ten people. "If you have a problem serving, Saya-chan, why bother working here?" Seishou asked while he was behind her.

Saya gasped. "Seishou, don't scare me like that! And as you know, there's no such thing as a money tree. If there was, I wouldn't be working."

Seishou smirked as he grabbed two Kola glass cups. "Right. You have no trouble with the size of people before."

"Well, if you have ten perverted men to serve, you will see my problem," Saya huffed when she filled three glass cups with Fire Mist.

"Mhmm, want me to help after this," Seishou said as his gestured to the drinks in his hands.

"If you want to," she said. Before she left with the three drinks, Saya said, "Happy birthday, Seishou."

Seishou grinned. "Thanks, I almost forgot!" Then the blond waiter handed the drinks to his customers before taking their order and continues on with his shift.

Around Konoha

Inside the Royal Limo

Queen Kushina Namikaze nee Uzumaki was almost happy with her life. Almost. Although it was the celebration of the end of the Shu no Tero (Week of Terror), she didn't feel like celebrating. Her first child was the sacrifice for Konoha to be safe. Hikaru and Yuki, her two last children are special, yes. She loves them with all her heart, but they could never fill the gap of Naruto. Kushina had her fingers gripping on the green silk of her dress by the knees as she quickly glanced at her children across from her along with Tsunade.

One boy and one girl; both have red hair and a little spoiled on the side. While Hikaru was spoiled through the title as prince and the duties of one, Yuki was spoiled through playtime and dressing up. The red haired queen couldn't blame them for it, not entirely. Since the lost of her first child Naruto, she did as much as she could to have as much time with them as possible.

Then she took a look at her husband who was between Jiraiya and her. Strong, loyal and nice, Minato was the man that she had secretly wished for. Although he looked amused by his children's antics (Yuki and Hikaru were having an argument about the properness of a porcelain doll), Kushina knew that he missed his fellow blond of a son. And she respected Minato for trying to look beyond the past to today.

The redheaded mother, wife and queen sighed as she looked through the window on her right to see the sights of the capital city her land has to offer. Passing them by was brand name stores, malls, and fast food places. Where's our past? We should at least keep a little of it, Kushina thought. After the attack sixteen years ago, fast food and modern places were booming; neither tea shops nor traditional restaurants were kept. It's all about the modern economy and fresh elegance, even the ramen nowadays is no longer in ramen stands (there's rarely any!). Now there are in just festive looking Styrofoam cups called Kono-chan: Instant Noodles.

Kushina sighed. I really need some good salt ramen for memories sake.

"Kushina?"

Said woman and violet eyes turned to the caller in a bored fashion. "Hmm?"

Tsunade sighed as she smoothed out the invisible wrinkles of her light green dress and cocked her head to the side. "You need to at least try to be happy for your family's sake. I want you to be smiling. Even he wants his mother to be joyful despite the situation from the past. I never meant that you should forget him. It will take me years to even dare to lose my precious memories with Dan and Nawaki, however I always feel that they are watching me with all their love and hoping that I'll be happy regardless of what happened."

"I know, I know," Kushina lightly exasperated with her hands slightly waving in the air. "I just…I just wish he was alive. It's supposed to be his sweet sixteen today." Kushina chuckled sadly as some of her fingers were combing through her red locks. "I want to see him smile, potty train, ride his bike, lose his first tooth, train with swords and other weapons, getting his first girlfriend—basically becoming a growing man. And now I-I-I can't." Her tears were hidden from the other riders, but they took notice of her wavering voice with concern.

"Kushina," Minato turned to face his wife and hugged her as he showed grief on his face. "Hey, you're not the only one who missed him. We barely took time to be with him when the war was raging on. Only three hours, and then he was ripped away from us." The blond man then faced his two other children, who were both quiet during the conversation. "I wish you could've met him."

Hikaru and Yuki only just nodded in acceptance, while Tsunade and Jiraiya showed depressed gazes at each other. The limo was quiet for the moment besides the sound of the vehicle moving before Jiraiya broke the silence.

"How about we go out to eat?" Jiraiya suggested.

Tsunade growled before punching the perverted author right in the jaw. "Why think about food at the time like this!" She shouted.

Jiraiya tried to ebb his painful jaw before he noticed that he had everyone's attention. "No, no, I mean we go out to eat to celebrate Naruto's life on earth."

"Why didn't you say so before, Jiraiya?" Minato chuckled lightly.

Jiraiya huffed and pointed at Tsunade. "Well, she didn't let me finished."

"Finga pointin' is wrong Jirai'a," Yuki said while trying to be serious, but managed to look like a puffing Buddha in a blue, plaid dress with frills at the hem with the matching bow and black patent dress shoes.

Hikaru deadpanned as he placed his hands on the pants part of his black suit. "Wow, so mature, Yuki."

Jiraiya laughed at the sight. "All right, all right, princess. You're right. So what should I ever do to get back your trust?"

Yuki broke out into a grin. "Gimme piggyback rides!"

Jiraiya snorted. "Sure why not!" Then he looks toward the other adults in the limousine. "Anyways, where do you think we should go?"

Minato pondered and faced his wife with a small smile. "Where, Red?"

"Is there a place with real ramen?" Kushina asked.

Minato shook his head in his left hand as he murmured an "only you" when Tsunade answered with a smirk. "Ichiraku Ramen. That's the only place along with some others that I've remembered that's still in business after the war." Gleefully, she smiled at Kushina. "Aaaand, it has some legit ramen; pork, chicken, diet, vegetable…salt."

The queen's eyes popped and turned to the rest of the occupants of the back. "C'mon, let's go!" Soon, she faced the mirror when she held contact with their driver, Hayate Gekko. "Take us to Ichiraku!"

Hayate coughed into fist. "Yes, ma'am." He turned a corner and went off the reach to the queen's requested destination.


How is it? Do you think I should continue? Do I have writing issues? If so, please message me or review. I would really love to hear about your suggestions, comments, etc. Anyways, have a good day/evening/night. :)

-Chiharu Hikari