Author's Notes:
Hello, everyone! I've already updated this story! YAAAAY! So… a lot had changed _! People who were following the old storyline, please, re-read from point zero or else you'd be lost. Thank you very much for still keeping this story in your favorites and still liking it. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! T_T
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own NARUTO, because if I did, none of the failed marriages that had taken place in the manga would be there! T_T *brings forth the tissues*
Warnings: Curse words, incest, male on male mature content. Please pay attention if you don't like any of those three, don't read!
Minato disliked being unpunctual and having a teenager as a son – whose sole mission in life was arriving late – did anything but help his feelings alter a different course. Annoyed, with his patience running thin, he started tapping on the car's roof, waiting for his son to finish dragging his feet and get into the damn car before night catches them there.
Having decided he had done his fair share of waiting, he voiced his irritation with a calm, collected tone. "Naruto, I swear to God, if you're not down here in the next five seconds, I'm driving off without you."
Sounds of footsteps hurrying down were heard, followed soon by a wrecking and a loud crashing sound, which sent a cold chill down the blond adult's spine. He put a hand on his forehead to ease the tension when the voice of Naruto – his noisy child – came questioning his opinion about that old blue vase by the door. Minato took a deep breath, finished his counting and got inside the car, just in time for a stumbling teen to find his way into the passenger seat with a sheepish grin plastered on his face.
"Sorry, dad."
Already embracing his bad luck of fathering a troublesome teenager that would never change, Minato raised a thin brow as a reply. "You took one whole hour to get ready, and you're still wearing trash?"
Rolling his eyes at his father's lack of fashion sense, Naruto explained. "Dad, for you, anything that's not handmade by a high-class tailor is 'trash'."
"No, your clothes are just trash."
"They're not."
"Are to."
"Are not, dad."
"I gave birth to you and I'm saying you need to dress better."
"You didn't give birth, Mom did," Naruto corrected. "You just donated the pudding."
Shaking his head at his child's use of language, Minato elaborated on his reasoning. "Well, the pudding wasn't easy to donate."
"Anyhow, putting my choice of wear aside, I took just an hour to get ready, which is a score in and of itself~"
The minute Minato's eyes dimmed, Naruto knew he went from one landmine to another. A dead-end route.
"It would have saved us both time if you didn't."
"Come on, Dad, it's not like I took forever, it's still three thirty. We're only half an hour late!" The teen whined, hoping to get out of this mess with minimum damage.
"Even if I excused your unpunctuality, Sasuke won't. He doesn't like to wait."
The blond felt his bone shudder with excitement at the mentioning of his long-lost uncle's name, but he had to hold his ground. Even if he didn't want to give a bad first impression, he had his pride to maintain… not to mention he was just plain stubborn.
"Well, it's time for him to learn."
"No, it's time for you to be punctual. As your father, I fear the day when you'd live alone…. just thinking about it turns my vision black."
Naruto grinned as he put a calming hand on his father's shoulder, assuring him that his future wasn't as bleak as he saw it. Yet with that stupidly silly grin and the way Naruto had always failed in keeping his punctuality, Minato wasn't so sure about it.
The teenager pushed the button that allowed his window to slide down and smiled when cold air hit his face. It wasn't so hot the car's AC needed to be on, nor was it so cold that the windows needed to be shut; the weather was just right. It was a sunny, enjoyable, lovely day that he allowed himself a chance at being happy.
"Dad?"
Minato took a small glance at his son whilst making sure he took the right turn as to save them time and avoid traffic. "Hmm?"
"Could you describe him to me? Sasuke, I mean."
The professor gave off a nostalgic smile as memories of when he was still a part of his family came ringing the doorbell of his mind. He started tapping on the steering wheel, before he replied.
"Sasuke… he was still a small child when I left with your mother, so put in mind that everything I say would be from that time. I have no idea how he'd grown, but I hope he didn't stray far from his kind nature."
"Okay, denoted." Naruto marked.
"I remember he always had a charming smile on his face, he liked games and would always play different kinds of them with your mother. I can still hear his sweet voice protesting when Kushina told him she was leaving… at that time, he might've had a small crush on her," Minato chuckled at the distant memory. "He was also a very intelligent kid, very bright for his age. Actually, might even be a small genius."
Naruto's eyes sparkled with awe as he asked in anticipation. "How smart, dad?"
"Well, let's say he could spot the difference in complicated puzzles at one glance. His school-records were the complete opposite of yours, straight A-pluses. He was always working hard, trying to please everyone, a little angel. Totally different from Itachi and I …"
Here Minato's voice dimmed down to silence. Naruto felt a sudden sad atmosphere develop around them and his heart clenched. This always happened, whenever his dad would open up a little about his family, at the mention of this 'Itachi' person, he'd clam his mouth shut. It happened so many times that he'd gotten used to it by now. Sighing inwardly, Naruto quickly tried to change the topic.
"Then, if he is all that smart, I'll have him solve...err…help me solve that Algebra homework, which drives me crazy all the time." Sheepishly, he finished.
Minato nodded to his son while ruffling messy blond locks with affection. "I don't think he would mind that one bit."
The teen didn't object like he always did when his father ruffled his hair, this time, he let him do it to his heart's content. Because he knew that by doing this, his father was reminding himself that he didn't throw away his whole family for nothing, and that he'd earned something more valuable.
"So… why the sudden visit? Not that I mind company…but why? After all these years with no communication whatsoever, why decide to seek us now?"
Minato slowed down the speed when they entered a tunnel and explained a united answer to Naruto's questions. "Sasuke was living in the United States for a while now, but he's currently back in Japan to close up some deals and take care of some business. Therefore, he asked if he could stay with us for a while, until he finishes his business."
"Hmm…so, he didn't come to see me?" Naruto whispered to himself.
The adult of the two smiled softly at the small whisper that Naruto didn't mean to have him hear, then elaborated a bit further. "Naruto, you do know that my family is rich, right?"
"Yeah…you said that once."
"Then why do you think Sasuke refused to stay in one of the grand hotels – that would sure rejoice to have him check in – or go to one of the family houses here? Why do you think he asked me to stay at our house specifically?"
Shrugging the question off, the blond offered a nonchalant answer. "I dunno…maybe because we're near the business...?"
Minato rolled his eyes at his kid's simple way of thinking, then corrected. "It's because he wants to see us, to see you and to get to know the nephew that he never had a chance to meet."
As he watched the light return once more to his boy's eyes, Minato's mouth stretched into a calm beam. The teenager on the other hand, raised the window's glass up again since all of this air was making him uncomfortable, before he asked a question that was bugging at the back of his mind.
"So, Dad, what does he look like?"
"Sasuke? Well, because we don't have the same mother, his profile is a bit different from mine. Yet he was a very cute kid, I'd say he turned out to be handsome."
"How different from you?" Blue eyes narrowed with the question.
Not fond of the way his son was becoming superficial, Minato remarked. "Will you stop trying to rush things, Naruto? Just wait and see. Leave it to be a surprise."
Naruto frowned at his father's words and decided to let it go. It wasn't like he was weeks away from meeting his supposed uncle, it was only a few more minutes. But still, that didn't stop his mind from trying to put together a picture of the man who was going to intrude on their lives for the next eight weeks to come.
He started mixing the different layouts he had in mind and a vivid picture came up. He visualized an image of a light blond haired man, with green eyes and pale complexion. Yes; his Dad did say they had different mothers, but how different could the taste of his grandfather be to change from his Dad's mom to Sasuke's? As the picture inside his mind started taking a definite form, it wasn't too great.
Another question popped suddenly inside his head. Would his uncle like him? The blond felt all giddy and nervous at the question and again, his mind started coming up with answers to that one.
Minato watched as his son struggled with his inner self and smiled faintly, he really did miss his little brother; their sweet memories were always coming back to him. He'd thought many times of trying to phone the main house and ask for Sasuke, but he knew that Itachi would sadly cut the line from him. It would not be a pretty conversation to hold with the long haired raven either. Minato sighed and focused once more on steering the wheel in his hands and making sure they don't have any accidents.
The two arrived finally at the airport… late. They quickly made their way towards the arriving area and began their hunt of the big board having the course of the flights. Luckily for them; news about the plane being delayed because of the bad weather that had suddenly developed, reached them. Minato and his son waited for two extra hours, in which Naruto would sometimes dwell on his father punctuality and remind him that next time, he should check the airport before scooping him to rush.
"Attention, attention, the plane number three hundred forty five has arrived from The United States safely. The passengers will be leaving from gate number fifteen, I repeat, the plane number three hundred forty five has arrived safely from The United States, its passengers will leave from gate number fifteen. Thank you for listening."
Upon hearing the news from the big speakers placed here and there, Minato stood up, stretching his aching muscles, and released a happy sigh for firstly, Naruto's continued ranting about his punctuality made him want to strangle the teen and having it finally come to an end was a complete heaven. And secondly, he would, at last, be able to meet his long unseen younger brother.
"You hear that Naruto, that's his plane!"
Naruto stood up and followed behind his father to the gates. He rubbed his ass for it had gone numb from the long sitting and avoided the crowds as not to trip over himself and fall. All the way, he was thinking of what his uncle may look like – having the image inside his brain crushed by his father's denial that the only thing close to Sasuke was the pale complexion – and trying not to return to point zero.
He had never known that his father had any brothers. The only thing that Minato has ever told him about the family was that they'd disowned him for marrying a servant. His father had said it while telling Naruto of his mother and the first time they've met. The blue eyed teen loved his mother very much and that's why, secretly, at times when no one was looking, he'd blame himself for her death. Simply because she'd died giving birth to him. His father was always telling him that he was not the reason and that she had passed away because her time had come, which was something neither of them could have done anything to prevent.
Having lost himself to his thoughts, Naruto didn't pay attention to his path or to the human being walking opposite of him, causing him to come falling back on the ground with a loud thud upon their collision.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"
Most of the people around heard the agonized yelps, before the loud thud that indicated that something larger than a suitcase had went down, but quickly ignoring it when seeing that it was simply a person bumping into another. The blond was rubbing his sore ass for the second time in less than ten minutes, first it was numb beyond belief, and now, it hurt beyond belief. Wasn't there a grey ground where his ass actually felt good!? Naruto quickly shook his head at the odd thought, thanking God that there was still no way for humans to be able to read other's thoughts or he'd actually be in a very awkward situation.
After getting himself off the ground, the blond searched for the thing that made him hit it. An annoyed scowl graced his lips as he came eye to eye with his attacker.
"Hey jerk! Can't you see in front of you?!"
Lovely black orbs hidden under long dark bangs glared daggers at him, Naruto felt something in him waver as his anger subsided for a minute.
"Hn. As I'm seeing it, you're the one having vision problem, Dobe."
"Teme! What did you just call me?!"
The handsome, tall male started walking away trying to block out the kid that was yelling at him to stop. While on the other hand, Naruto started walking quickly, trying to catch up with the man who sent him flying flat onto the ground. Upon reaching his target, Naruto roughly turned the other male to face him.
"No one walks away from Uzumaki Naruto, you prick!"
The blond felt his body jolt when his tanned hand was grabbed and roughly thrown back to his side, hanging uselessly. And again, his blue, shinning orbs met up with a hard glare from those black ones. Yet this time, the glare had something else mixed into it, something that Naruto failed to identify with the gush of blood inside his veins.
"You said Uzumaki?"
"Huh…? Yes, Uzumaki. Oh wait, don't tell me that your royal jerkness also blocks your ears from hearing right, old man?" He mocked with sarcasm.
Naruto had to hold his breath as those midnight orbs caught him off guard and despite his insisting command for his muscles to move, his body froze. He darted his eyes away from the hypnotic ones and that's when he finally noticed. The formal black attire, the clearly handmade suit, the long black jacket covering it, the flowing black hair that was tied back with a simple ring allowing certain locks to escape and the darkness-filled eyes that had captured him prisoner, they all seemed to drown him in with a moon like pale skin that left him staring, and this was his first.
His first time seeing skin shine as bright as a lamp and a human having such charisma.
The man was attractive. Even from a boy's point of view, he was attractive. Naruto couldn't stop staring at the alluring painting before him.
Two set of dark orbs watched as the little teen tried to shift his weight nervously, which indicated that something was bothering the hell out of him. A smirk found its path to the raven's mouth and he made his way carefully towards the shorter blond. Naruto felt something tell him that this was dangerous, that he should start to walk away. Being true to his hunches, Naruto took a few steps backwards, causing him to bump into another person.
Luckily, the woman was nice enough and smiled as Naruto apologized to her. Yet before she could say or do anything else, a hard, deep glare that was clearly directed to her from the sexy man – in the astonishing suit behind the kid – had her quickly make herself scarce, leaving the kid to his unknown destiny. The blond looked with confusion at the fleeing woman, but shrugged it off as his attention was pulled to the other guy beside him. Once again, he snarled.
"...What?!"
The man said nothing, just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Kid, I don't have time for this, I'm too exhausted. Where's Minato?"
Naruto knotted his brows at those words, suspicions quickly forming, setting his mind on alarm. "How do you know my Dad?"
"Are you an idiot or something?"
"Huh?"
The man signaled to his bags as he started walking. "I'd take that as you being an idiot. Push these while I call Minato."
Suspicions raised one hundred degree in his head; causing Naruto to ignore the command and glare at the other male who was trying to turn him into his personal maid. "How do you know my Dad's name? Who are you?"
The raven ignored anything that came out of those pink lips, and started on with the conversation on his cell. "Where are you? Ah, well, I'm outside the gate...yeah, the Dobe's with me alright, well, yes, I can see it…fine, see you in five. And hurry, I don't think your kid understands the language I'm speaking."
With that the raven hung up his brand new cell and ran a pale hand through his soft hair. While he started walking to the area where he and Minato agreed to meet on, he directed another set of orders.
"We will wait over there, so he can find us, come."
Naruto was left dumbfounded, but nevertheless, his legs continued to follow behind the man with the bags placed over the carrier for him to easily push. He voiced his former question again after they sat on the seats beside the fancy café waiting.
"Who are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
If there was something Naruto hated in a conversation, it would be beating around the bush. "What? Answer already!"
"Is it your time of the month or what? Quit shouting, my head hurts."
"Then die!"
The raven 'hn'ed, ignoring the dog barking beside him, before he focused on finding for the person who he'd crossed half of the globe just to meet. A tiny, unnoticeable smile was painted on his lips as old familiar blond locks became visible to his eyes. Slowly, the picture was becoming clear when tanned skin, lovely, kind blue orbs came to grace his vision. His tiny smile stretched a little as an overwhelming gush of happiness floated into his veins, and good old memories came back to him. He wanted nothing more than to run over there, run and give his big brother a bone crushing hug. But he knew, doing that and unleashing his feelings was like committing suicide and opening holes for his enemies to take, and that wasn't the way he was raised, taught or how he was trained to be.
"DAD! OVER HERE!"
Startled by the shout that came from the teen beside him, the tall, handsome male remained passive and waited 'till the blond adult spotted them and came their way.
Coming face to face with his brother, Minato's features were adored with a true smile and he circled his arms around him, releasing all of his happiness for the world to see. He couldn't be more content when Sasuke's pale hands returned the hug in their own special way.
"Sasuke, it's been a long time." Minato spoke after they broke away from the hug.
Sasuke nodded his affirmation. "That, it has. How have you been?"
"Getting by, you?"
"Alive."
Feeling left out of the conversation, and finally being able to put two in two, Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger to the rude man that had bumped into him a few minutes ago. "YOU! Wait! Wait...Oh just wait a fucking sec here!"
The two parted completely and Minato frowned at his son's language, putting it in the back of his head to scold him about it and about pointing his finger later. Just when did he raise such an uncouth kid?
"What, chibi?" Sasuke asked not appreciating having his special moment interrupted.
"You, stay quiet! Dad," Naruto's eyes flamed as he spoke the words he dreaded right now. "Is this…this person, the uncle I'm supposed to meet?"
Minato nodded again not liking the tone of voice. "Yes. This is Sasuke, my younger brother."
The teen felt like pricks and hard rocks have just fallen over his head. With a pair of gritted teeth, he made sure to have the raven know just how unhappy he was with him being his uncle. "But dad! He looks NOTHING like you!"
Minato sighed already massaging his aching temple. "And I didn't say he does. Really Naruto! You need to start paying attention to what I say from now on. I said that we have different mothers, thus, we'd sure be different."
"Yeah, normal different, not one hundred percent different!"
The professor smacked his child on the head, causing a pout to be directed towards him, before he continued in a fatherly way. "It's your own fault for assuming. Stop doing that."
Before the two, silly father and son, started on another round of showing their affection and having him puke the non-existent flight food he'd been served, Sasuke uttered. "If you two are done, I'd like to have a rest now. Minato, where's your car?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Sasuke. This way."
The oldest of the three started making his way through the crowds of people, ignoring Naruto's actions. He hoped that as time passed by, Naruto would learn to like Sasuke. Since if he didn't, Minato would end up having a problem inside his house… and there was nothing he hated more than problems within the family.
On the other hand, the teen didn't deny that his uncle was stunning and – as proven by the stares he'd gotten from the females passing by… and some males – sexy too. But he was also a complete and utter bastard! And now, he understood what his father meant by saying his uncle was different from him. Naruto sighed and shook his head, causing his face to get familiar with Sasuke's jacket from behind once again.
"Dobe, would you stop bumping into me every two seconds? Because even if you think of it as a good way for us to bond, I don't."
"S-shut up, jerk! Who would want to bond with your ass?!"
Before Sasuke could come up with a retort to his nephew, Minato urged, catching their attention. "Naruto, Sasuke, hurry up."
The raven nodded and headed towards the car. Choosing to lower his teasing a notch, he allowed the blond some charging up time, 'till they reach Minato's place anyways.
Naruto was experiencing a conflict in emotions at that moment. A part of him felt resentment towards the man claiming to be his uncle because, putting it simply, the dude was an ass. While another part actually – he dreaded even thinking the word – was happy having him over. It was due to his knowledge of his father's emotion for those past years.
Going by life without any family member to support him and having lost the love of his life early on, Naruto didn't know how he could sabotage this little happiness Sasuke's arrival had brought. His father had gone through hell to raise him as a single parent, not to mention having to deal with that guilt that Naruto hated to see. The guilt of leaving his family and not giving Naruto any chance at meeting them.
But Naruto, he didn't think that way. From the moment his dad had told him about the story of his birth, he had supported him. Marrying his late mother and living the way he wanted to, not the way his grandfather thought his father should was the right decision in his sight. That's why; he forced the part that resented Sasuke's nasty personality to subside for now and to try and act friendly with him… maybe they'd started on the wrong foot.
Sasuke raised a brow at the kid sitting in the back seat when he felt a strange look reach him from there. Feeling too tired to actually turn his head and question the teen about what he was scheming; Sasuke ignored him and continued looking out the window.
"Okay, you two, we've arrived, get out now."
Minato parked his car beside a small, cozy looking house. If Sasuke wasn't one to always bury himself in a book or two, he'd say that this tiny house was the place where Evil Witch of Hansel and Gretel lived at. The house was emitting a comfortable, warm feeling that made a person wish to just go in and live there. Minato welcomed him inside, helping carry the bags in while the teen was instructed to tour Sasuke around the house.
Naruto started with the first floor, the kitchen, the two bathrooms, the living room, his father's study, an additional two rooms, the backyard, and the hallways connecting all of them. Then he processed to the second floor, where his room, Minato's room, one bathroom, a storage room and three extra rooms were present. After introducing Sasuke to the house, Naruto walked to his room. He didn't know how to act around the man; because he'd never had anyone except his father to deal with and acting like himself proved to be a mistake – reminiscing to the small airport incident– so he decided that retreating to his room was the wisest choice here… until he conjured up a plan at least.
"Naruto, come down right now!" Minato shouted to his kid when he found his brother standing in the first floor with nowhere to go. "Naruto!"
When nothing came to answer his calls, Sasuke pointed out.
"Leave him right now, Minato. I'm so tired to have to hear you lecture your kid now, just direct me to where I should sleep so I can."
"I swear that boy will be the death of me one day!" The professor flamed as a sigh broke from his mouth the next moment. "Come with me, then."
Minato directed Sasuke to one of the three vacant rooms Naruto has introduced to him earlier. It was beside Naruto's room that had a 'Back Off! Toxic Area Ahead!' written on its door. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the teenage hormones and entered the room after Minato. He felt a smile creep on his face at the simplicity of it, it wasn't like his huge wing-like room back at the mansion, but it was convenient, small, warm, and it made Sasuke feel right at home. He smiled at his room. It was dark blue coloured, with two windows and a door beside the one they came in through, he pointed to the door in question and Minato explained.
"Oh, that door leads to Naruto's room."
"I see."
After making sure that Sasuke had finally settled into the room and it was to his liking, the blond started making his way towards the door. "I'll leave you to rest now, see you in the evening."
Sasuke nodded a confirmation, indicating his thanks to his brother who closed the door behind him with a little wave. The raven spared a quick glance to his bags, thinking that he needed to start unpacking soon. Yet before he could begin the action, his dark eyes came in contact with the magnetically charming bed, and all about moving was sent to the back of his mind. Sasuke slumped on the bed, closing his eyes and focusing only on the sweet scent that came from the pillows beneath his head, that's when a peaceful smile graced his lips.
Sadly, his quiet, tranquil atmosphere was interrupted with a loud noise coming from the room next door. Grimly, the traveler pealed himself off the comfortable bed and stripping to only his shirt and pants, he walked towards the source of that noise. Opening the door that supposed to connect his room to Naruto's, he asked annoyed.
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
Naruto tried to straighten his posture and to at least provide the clearly dissatisfied raven with an explanation, but as his body was flipped upside down, with both his legs hugging his sheets and his face flushed with the rush of blood to it, the only letters he was able to release, were faint S.O.S.
Sighing, Sasuke went to aid his nephew. "You really are a Dobe, you know."
"Hay...Don't call me that! I have a name!"
"Yeah, being named after a fish-dish isn't something you should be proud of either."
"Shut up!" Naruto retorted with a glare. "It's a very nice name, you're just jealous because you weren't given it."
"Just keep telling yourself that."
The blond had a strong urge to punch his uncle and wipe that stupid, sarcastic smirk off his face. But, once again, he remembered exactly what his father would look like if he were to do that, broken and sad. Not wanting to be the cause of such experience, Naruto forced his anger to lessen and his glare turned into a defeated pout.
"So," Sasuke started when he saw the new features his nephew was giving him. "What were you trying to pull, anyway?"
Naruto had the brief thought of not answering for a while, but when Sasuke came to sit next to him on the bed, silently telling him that he wasn't just full of insults, the blond broke out saying.
"Nothing really, I was just trying to reach something under the bed, but I tangled myself in the sheets and," He flipped his hands in the air. "That's when you came in."
"And couldn't you just bend the normal way?"
"…Umm…didn't really occur to me at that time."
"Aha, just as I assumed, a born idiot. Who would have thought people still produce that?" Sasuke teased with a straight face.
"Hey! Just because I didn't think of it doesn't make me an idiot!"
"Yes, it does. So, what were you trying to reach anyway?"
A thin brow was raised in questioning and Naruto darted his eyes, rising up his defenses again. "Why do you care?"
"I don't really, but when you crush my sweet sanctuary with unnecessary noise, I'd like to know why."
The blond frowned at the answer but decided that the best way to get the other off his case was by showing him. Even though it was an intimate part of his life, he got this weird feeling that Sasuke would not tell on him. Still not one hundred percent sure though, Naruto bent down under the bed and took something out.
"Close your eyes."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the teen beside him and with an irritated tone, he requested. "Would you stop acting like a child already?"
"If you want to know, close them! It's not like it's going to kill you or something!"
Sasuke only took orders from one person and that wasn't this teen. But he decided if playing this game would hurry his return to that tranquil bed, he would follow the lead of his nephew. He felt warm fingers brush over his momentarily as a rectangular object was placed into his palms. Sasuke took the liberty of opening his eyes now and, a nice picture of a couple looked back at him. The woman had flowing red hair and stunning blue eyes, which he immediately recognized as belonging to his first crush, Kushina. She had the happiest smile in the world gracing her perfect lips, whilst her whitish-reddish hand was soothing circles on her buffed out tummy.
The man, who was besides her, was holding her so tenderly with a silly grin on his face. As if he'd just won the jackpot. It was a picture taken of a happy couple in a moment where they thought they'd owned the world. It stirred different emotions inside Sasuke's stilled heart but he closed a firm lid on that.
"This is my mom." Naruto's somewhat sad tone brought him back from whatever land his mind chose to wonder into. "This is the only picture I have of her. Dad… he hid them all when I was a kid, he didn't want me to look at them and feel sad she's gone… but..."
Sensing his nephew's desire not to enter into that territory just yet, Sasuke asked a simple question. "Then how did you get this?"
"I roamed through the attic one night after he went to bed, and found it," Naruto released a sly grin. "I've been hiding it for a while now, so don't you dare tell him about it, hear me?"
"…"
"Teme, don't tell him about it, okay?"
"Hn."
"Hey! You listening to me?!"
Naruto eeped when the other man got close to his face and said. "I heard you loud and clear the first time round, but I also have a name. Call it and ask nicely. Without shouting, then we'll see what happens."
The teen glared at the smug raven who'd returned to his original position as if nothing had happened. Feeling cornered, he gave in with a pout. "Fine! S-Sasuke... Can you keep this from Dad?"
Sasuke smirked at his nephew, before he stood up. "I'll think about it"
"That's not what you said!"
"It's your own fault for trusting me so easily, Dobe."
Naruto felt the little self-restraint he was having on himself break into a fit of anger. At this moment, he was unable to control himself and was starting to throw random stuff towards the other. Every time Sasuke would so perfectly dodge every little object thrown at him, Naruto would increase the object's mass. Until finally, he throw away a stuffed fox in which Sasuke just raised a brow at. Naruto quickly snatched it back.
"Keep your hands away from him!"
"A doll? Seriously?"
The blond hissed not liking what his supposed uncle was saying. "He is not a doll!"
"Made of cotton, stuffed with feather, and looks like a damn animal, that's the sole definition of a stuffed doll."
Naruto puckered his lips and laid his abused fox near the bedside after giving him a kiss, telling him that he was the best fox in the whole world, regardless of what others said – that had earned him a strange look from his uncle. He proceeded to start on defending the fox, but was rudely ignored.
When Sasuke started getting up and heading towards his assigned room, Naruto stretched his tanned hand and grabbed hold of a clothed pale one.
"Hey wait!"
Raising a brow at the familiarity, Sasuke asked a reason with his eyes, and a strange question was retorted to him
"…H-How old are you?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Is it wrong to want to shift to a normal conversation for once?" The blond scoffed, releasing his hold as to cross his arms.
"Hn. Twenty one."
"And I'm seventeen." Naruto replied excitedly. "And yes, even though I don't look day past fifteen, I'm seventeen. My muscles will grow one of these days, I assure you!"
"I highly doubt that. Minato didn't reach his full potentials 'till he was twenty something. You've had the bad luck of getting his bad genes."
Hearing something about his father's bad growth spurt from the past had Naruto's tiny hope of growing taller evaporate. But he pounced back to his former excitement a minute later, refusing to give up.
"But I also have my mother's genes and your genes in the mix, so I'll grow taller!"
Though he wished to correct that no matter what, Naruto won't be able to attain his genes – due to the whole different-mothers fiasco – the only thing that came out of his mouth was a yawn. Indicating how tired he truly was, Sasuke said. "Alright, I'll look forward to your late-growing muscles; it'd be very interesting to see a midget turning normal."
"Shut up…I'll do it!"
Making sure that no hand would take a hold of his arm again, the handsome male headed to the door that he'd just came from. Before closing it, he gave a tiny wave to the teen.
"Nice to meet you, Naru-chan~"
Getting embarrassed at the nickname, Naruto threw a pillow at the door but he was too late since Sasuke closed it just in time, having the pillow knocked to the floor with a faint thud.
"Bastard." He whispered to the quiet room.
Minato started putting on the dishes on the table setting it up for dinner, whilst his kid was busy watching a football game play on the TV. He shook his head, wishing that Naruto would spend the same exact enthusiasm on studying rather than plain football matches. But as he knew from experience, Naruto was best left busy with TV than have him aid with making food.
Suddenly, the bathroom door was opened and a half naked Sasuke walked out. His nicely toned body was covered with two towels, one hugging his midsection and covering his private areas, and the other was rubbing so tenderly on his midnight spiked locks, drying them. Naruto's eyes switched momentarily from the TV – when the referee pronounced half time had begun – to the breathlessly looking raven. Sasuke winked, catching his eyes.
"Sasuke, how was your shower?" Minato asked when his eyes set on his brother.
"Good."
"Great, go change and come down for dinner, it would be right out."
"Okay."
Naruto watched his uncle disappear up the stairs and ten minutes later, a fresh looking Sasuke came down. He smirked when his eyes caught Naruto's again. Ignoring him and going straight towards Minato in the kitchen, the raven asked,
"Need any help?"
The professor mixed the salad and placed it in its definite bowl. "No, thank you. I've finished setting up everything. You can just go get Naruto to unglue his eyes from that damn game and get his ass on the table."
"That would be easy to do."
Minato watched as his younger brother walked to his son and from where he was standing, he couldn't hear what they were saying, but whatever it was, Naruto left the TV and walked obediently towards the table. He shrugged, thinking that maybe agreeing to Sasuke's request wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Sitting beside the two males and putting the salad dish down, Minato asked the raven. "Why didn't you use the hairdryer to dry your hair, Sasuke? It's uncomfortable to leave it this way."
"Actually, it's healthier to leave it to dry on its own. The hairdryer can break the cuticle layer protecting your hair, and it will cause the hair to die down and reduce its volume. Not to mention it's easier like this."
Minato released a small laugh. "You really haven't changed, Sasuke. Still Mr. Know it All."
"…Hn."
The silky, black, somewhat wet locks decorated Sasuke's face perfectly. Making Naruto feel uneasy as his eyes were continuously, and without his permission, traveling to the nice image sitting beside him. So when he was caught for the third time that day staring, Naruto's face flushed faintly and he found himself unable to focus on the meal he was trying to digest. Quietly as not to alarm his father, he decided that it was time for him to leave the table.
"Excuse me, I remembered I have math homework to do, I'll eat later."
With that the teen ran towards his room, leaving behind a truly stunned Minato to question the heavens if his prayers that his son would concentrate on his academic life for once were finally being answered. But knowing Naruto well, Minato sighed continuing his meal.
"Something's wrong with him."
"Why would you think that?"
"Naruto never misses out on a meal. Let alone leave in the middle to do a homework… the chances of that actually happening are about none to zero, so something's up."
"How about the possibility that he might simply just not be hungry?"
The blond knotted his brows, refusing the notion altogether. But since the other possibility would be that Naruto was having troubles eating beside Sasuke – which didn't appeal him too much – he settled for the probable. "Maybe."
"Now, do you want to hear about the family that disowned you?"
Minato smiled sadly at the words and replied in all honesty. "Yes. But before that… tell me just one thing, how's Itachi doing?
Sasuke felt a bone come to sit in his throat as the face of their middle brother came to grace his head. With a small smile, he gave Minato the information he needed to know …for now.
As the other houses continued sleeping in blissful tranquility, the household of the Uzumaki didn't get the same rest. Naruto frowned at the thousandth time his stomach grumbled, finally, getting tired of trying to sleep with an empty stomach to no avail, he decided it was about time he went and stuffed his belly with something. In silence, he tip-toed out towards the kitchen
"God, I'm so hungry, I can eat a whole cow right now." He whispered as not to disturb his father and newly found uncle, before closing his door.
The blue-eyed teen made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and began searching for edible materials. Coming across some leftover spaghetti and cheese-salad, he began thinking about maybe making himself some ramen, but two seconds later, that thought ran out the window when he couldn't find any ramen cups in the kitchen. Naruto brought the spaghetti out and microwaved it. He sat beside the kitchen table and, as the stillness of the kitchen caught up to him, his lashes became heavy and without knowing it, he was soon traveling the path to sleep.
Something that smelled really good was reaching his nostrils. From the place he was in, Naruto allowed his mind to wander out of the sleeping land and open to that amazing smell. Quickly adding stuff together, he stood up, startled, searching for any burnt spaghetti. But when his eyes only met with an intact plate of spaghetti on the kitchen table, Naruto blinked to reality.
"…The spaghetti?"
"Luckily, I woke up with your footsteps and caught it before it burnt. Seriously, who puts something in a damn microwave and then falls asleep? Do you know what could've happened?"
Naruto sheepishly sat back on the table and allowed his uncle to scold him for the stupid act he'd done.
"Sorry, uncle."
Sighing his momentarily anger away, Sasuke brushed it off. "It doesn't matter. Just try not to do it again. Besides, stop calling me that, I'm only four years older; don't make me a hundred years older."
"Then, what should I call you? 'Sasuke-san'?"
"It doesn't matter, as long as it's not 'uncle' and drop the honorifics."
Naruto grinned, bearing his teeth. "Then Sasuke it is. And you can call me Naruto!"
"Oh, I already have a name for you. You don't have to worry about it, Naru-chan." Before his nephew started lighting the tiny fire inside his eyes with a fight, Sasuke added. "Here, eat it. Your father left it out for you; he said you're going to wake up in the middle of the night hungry."
"Yeah…he sometimes does that."
Naruto got a sparkle in his eyes when he said that and Sasuke felt a strange feeling a keen to a sense of jealousy wash over him. He shrugged the stupid emotion off and focused on the teen eating in front of him.
"Umm… Sasuke?"
Trying the name on his lips, it felt a little embarrassing, even though he'd been trashing the name since he met the bastard… yet actually recognizing it now felt… different.
"Yes?"
"There is something I want to know and I want your honest answer."
"Hn."
"I'll take that as a yes, then. Can you tell me why you came here?"
"Don't you want me to be here?" Sasuke raised a thin eyebrow, with his left cheek resting on his palm.
"I didn't mean that. It's nice to have someone other than Dad to talk to, but what I meant was, why are you here after all of these years? Why didn't you come sooner? Why now?"
Sasuke's face turned dark for a while, but before his nephew started questioning further, he gave him a bone to bite on. "Well, for a start, I have some business to take care of here in Japan so this felt like a right time to come say hi. The reason why I couldn't come earlier was father. When he disowned Minato, he refused us any communication with him, and it's just recently that Itachi," The flinch in Naruto didn't go undetected to Sasuke's eyes. "…Your other uncle, was able to convince him that Minato was our brother and we still shared blood with him, so shunning him away wasn't right. Besides,"
"Besides?"
"I had heard a long time ago that Minato had had a kid. Like it or not, I wanted to meet him. So, some of the reason why I'm here is to meet you."
The blond felt his cheeks redden as heat rushed to his face at those words. He continued eating, refusing to meet his uncle's eyes and expose to him just how happy those words had made him.
Smirking at the unexpectedly adorable reaction, Sasuke couldn't stop himself from at least just teasing his nephew a little more. He stood up then kneeled, facing the teen face on, he licked the red spaghetti sauce decorating Naruto upper lip.
"Be neater when eating your meals, Dobe."
Before Naruto could unfreeze his startled limbs and register what had just been done to him, Sasuke walked away towards his room. Smirking as he kept on thinking of the amount of fun he was going to have these upcoming months with his nephew.
Thanks for reading! Hopefully you're interested and wish to continue further. I really want you to! This story only gets better! Thank you! :D
