A Change of Seasons

A future in which Sasuke is married and Naruto is Hokage.

Warning: There is a long period of time where Naruto and Sasuke are not together. This begins as a SasuHina, moves into a KibaHina and SasuNaru, and ends in death. I'm warning you, death. This story, like its partner Different Seasons, has its ups and downs. You've been warned.

Disclaimer: Kishimoto's, not mine. God, I wish I owned my own Sasuke and Naruto. I'd make them do things to each other for my own enjoyment endlessly. The chapter titles are taken from the doujinshi "'Yukimachiya' Four Seasons, I Love You" by Amemiya Kazuyuki and Ichihara Tetuno, found on Zettai-Hentai.

Notes: I've actually had this planned out since I first thought of the idea for Different Seasons. I wanted to write about children in the Naruto world. I also wanted Sasuke to lift himself from 'run away' status to 'hero' status, because I really do like him and I feel bad when people rip on his character. Their comments are well-deserved, but still, Sasuke is Sasuke after all. Like Naruto once said, "if Sasuke started sprouting fuzzy happy hearts and rainbows, I'd be worried". Please don't hate me for the cliffhangers, or the messed up relationships. I promised a SasuNaru, and I shall deliver it! Now, on to the madness.

Spring Kisses

1

She flew through the legs of the crowd like a small, sharp black kunai, darting in and out of throngs and tangles of people that grouped together on the market streets. Distantly behind her, the sounds of her fellow classmates escaping for the afternoon shrilled out over the crisp spring air. Somewhere in that tangle was her brother, slower than her only by a hair, but too kind to shove his fellow classmates away and make a break for early freedom. He was probably sitting in the classroom and waiting for it to clear, talking with Iruka-sensei. Herself, on the other hand, was flying back toward home as fast as her short legs would go because her favorite uncle had just arrived home that morning and she couldn't wait to see him again after so many weeks of being alone. Not that she was really alone, but Uncle Neji was the only grown-up she knew that actually seriously trained with her, and it thrilled her to be getting lessons from one of the most elite ninjas in all of Konoha. She ran faster at the simple thought of it, as light with her joy as a cherry blossom floating through the air overhead.

He bade goodbye to his favorite teacher, promising to remind his sister about the homework assignment due on Friday. Iruka-sensei had been concerned with the way she had rocketed from the classroom when the final bell rang, but when he'd explained that their mother's cousin had come home from a long mission he seemed to understand. The two children were as different from each other as night and day, but he felt as if he could understand his sister's aloof and somewhat moody behavior, as she could sense his true self behind his shy and quiet exterior. Twins were like that, he supposed.

"What's got you looking so troubled, Haku?" A familiar voice pulled him up from his thoughts. He briefly caught a glimpse of the empty schoolyard and then looked up into the smiling face framed with blond locks.

"Uncle Naruto!" he exclaimed, his normal reserved self forgotten in his happiness.

"Good work, Hana," Hyuuga Neji relaxed and so did the smaller girl after another moment. Glittering diamond beads of sweat trickled down her angelic, round face while she smiled broadly as she seldom did. The only people to see such a smile were her immediate family and her two favorite uncles and favorite aunt (she just happened to like Uncle Neji a little more than the others). "Let's both get some water, hm?" he gave her one of his own rare smiles and her heart fluttered and her mind reeled in the pure and simple joy that only a child can feel around the people she loved. As they stepped onto the raised wooden platform surrounding the house to enter through the back door, the paper frame slid back to reveal her mother, her brother, and yet another guest.

"Hana! Neji!" Hinata called and turned her wide white eyes to the outside. She jumped slightly when she saw the two of them standing there on the back porch as if waiting. She stumbled over her words a little bit, but recovered and smiled at her family. "Haku's home, and he's brought a visitor."

"Uncle Neji!" the black haired boy called and ran out of the house in his slippers to wrap his arms around the tall man's waist. Neji ruffled the short, tidy black hair and smiled again.

"Hello, Haku," he said and looked up at the other man. "Hokage," he nodded.

"Oh, stop it," Uzumaki Naruto wrinkled his nose. "The official stuff stays at the office, Neji. You promised."

"My apologies then," Neji said.

"Will you both be staying for dinner?" Hinata offered and both children turned to their favored uncles expectantly.

"Pleeeeeeeeease?" they pouted in identical twin-like pleas.

Naruto melted easily. "Of course!"

Neji fought it for exactly seven seconds. "All right."

"YAY!" both children leapt for joy.

"Alright, they're staying," their mother spoke to the excited children gently. "That means that Hana must take a shower while Haku sets the table. When dinner is over, Hana will clear the table and Haku will shower." She raised an eyebrow. "Deal?"

"Agreed!" they twinned again and dashed into the house to set about doing what they were told. Hinata straightened and beamed at the two men.

"Thank you, both of you," she said meaningfully.

"Thank you for inviting us," Neji waved off her politeness. "Besides, I haven't had a decent meal in weeks." That made his cousin laugh, the sound echoing through the large house like tiny silver bells, seeming to light up the darkly-decorated interior as it travelled along the walls. Naruto stared absentmindedly at those walls for half a moment before he addressed his friend.

"Where's Sasuke? I thought he'd be back by now," the blond commented.

"He was called out some time ago," she said thoughtfully, her white eyes turning up to the ceiling. "I didn't see by whom. He said he'd be back in a moment, though…"

"And I am," a new voice came from the foyer. Shoes hit the wooden floor, slippers scuffed across the carpet in the living room, and Uchiha Sasuke entered the hallway, looking as cool and regal as ever. He stopped by the kitchen doorway to look in at the young boy setting the table, then he continued to the other three near the back of the house. "I'm back, Hinata," he told his wife. Then, to his fellow Anbu: "Welcome back, Neji." His sharp dark amber eyes flickered to Naruto for a brief second and his head dipped in a slight nod of acknowledgement. "Hey."

"Welcome home, Sasuke," Hinata bowed respectively to her husband.

"Thank you," Neji nodded respectively to his cousin-in-law.

"Hey," Naruto gave a similar incline of his head. Neji and Sasuke, who were not ones for talking, did not bother to offer a start to a conversation and Hinata was never one to begin talking on her own, so it all fell to the blond. His lips kicked up into a too-friendly smile. "I ran into your son in the schoolyard on my way back from lunch, so I decided to walk him home."

"You mean, you decided to skip out on the rest of your duties for today," Sasuke shot back without missing a beat.

"How could you say that?" Naruto cried indignantly with a too-exaggerated pout. "Here I am, slaving away at being the best damn hokage I can be, and you're insinuating that I'm lazing off!"

"I'm not insinuating, I'm telling," Sasuke smirked evilly.

"Not fair!" Naruto wailed.

Hinata and Neji exchanged glances. The younger woman smiled thinly. Neji's eyes narrowed slightly as he inspected her. Then Haku came scuffling into the room.

"Father!" his voice and gait picked up as he hurried to the tallest man's side.

"Haku," he spoke his son's name in a soft voice. Naruto's blue eyes became clouded. Hinata noticed but Neji did not, because he was watching his cousin and not the hokage. Sasuke placed a gentle hand on the soft, straight black hair that fell over the boy's ears and smiled tenderly downward. "Did you start your homework yet?"

"It's not due until Friday, Father," the boy shook his head.

Sasuke frowned slightly. "Id rather you start on it now," he said in a tone that meant he thought the boy should have had it done already. The pupil-less white eyes winced ever so slightly and fell down to the spot in the floor between his feet.

"I'm sorry, Father," was all he could say, ashamed and timid. Sasuke's look flickered, and he knelt in front of the young boy, placing a hand on his frail shoulder.

"Do you need help with it?" he said in a much kinder voice. The boy shook his head negatively, refusing to look up. "Then you can start it after dinner with Uncle Neji, is that alright?" A slight and bashful nod. "Go wash up for dinner." The boy left without another word, his shoulders down. Sasuke rose, watching his son travel up the hall and around the corner to the bathroom out of sight. Naruto watched from behind everyone else, a disconnected look on his face. Hinata watched the exchange between father and son tight-lipped but silent. Neji kept on watching Hinata. Banging noises upstairs alerted them that the little girl had finished with her shower. Her noises shook the adults out of their awkward moment, and they wordlessly passed into the dining room to finish the preparations for dinner.