Because We Love You

"Hyah!"

The kunai I threw whistled through the air, straight through the many loops hanging, swaying from tree branches and buried itself in the red pillow I had used as a target. The orange glow of the setting sun glinted for a moment on the weapon's blade before it stilled.

"I did it!" I cheered, "I did it, did you see?"

I limited myself to smiling brightly as a hand clapped me gently on the shoulder.

"That's my boy. Someday you'll be a great shinobi."

"Thanks, Dad!" I said gratefully, beaming because it wasn't every day my father complimented me.

"Hmm…it's getting late. Your mother should have dinner ready. Let's head home, you're graduating tomorrow and you need your sleep."

"But I'm not tired!" I protested, trotting after my father as we left the spacious, grassy training grounds. "I'm wide awake!"

His hand ruffled my raven-colored hair as he smiled at me, his inky-black eyes warm with pride.

"You probably are," he said, "but you're not staying up. Even the ANBU need their sleep."

"Hmph…" I muttered, crossing my arms. "Fine…"

"Hey, don't act so disappointed. You mother's making something with tomatoes in it tonight."

"Dad, tomatoes are your favorites."

"Hmm…so they are. Must be losing my mind, getting old."

"You're not old, Dad! You're only thirty-five! Old is like Kakashi-sensei. He's old!"

"Heh…I'd wonder what happened if you said that to his face…"

"How should I know? He's always got that mask on, I've never seen his face!"

"It's one of the mysteries of life, boy. Now look, there's the house."

"Hey, Sweetheart!" my mother exclaimed when I barreled into her with a speedy hug. "How was training with Daddy?"

"Mom, I finally hit the target! The red one with all the rings!"

"Oh, I'm so proud of you," my mother cooed, giving me a squeezing hug back.

"Honey," said my father, stretching a little before pecking my mother on the cheek. "Be careful with that strength of yours or you'll crush him."

"You're so paranoid," smirked my mother, reluctantly letting me go. "Get to the table, I made that teriyaki with fried tomatoes you like so much. And salmon for my little man," she said, patting my head.

When we were all seated and peacefully eating, my mom smiled and struck the same question as every kid has to endure.

"So…how was school today, Sweetie?"

I wiped some sauce off of my mouth and looked down at the low table.

"Tomoya got in another fight today."

"Oh, that boy who pushes people down?"

I nodded.

"What happened?"

"He called me a name and Nagisa-chan yelled at him…and then they started fighting."

I noticed the shadow that flickered across my parents' faces. It always happens when I tell them about fights at school. I only have one friend, Nagisa Uzumaki. She's loud and uncontrollable, but the best friend I could ever ask for.

Tomoya Hyuga inherited his father's bullying genes, according to my parents. Before the kids my age began going to the Academy, everyone was his victim. But ever since we started, he's been focusing almost exclusively on me. And Nagisa-chan always stands up for me, because according to her I'm not very good at defending myself.

"What did he call you?" asked my father, not looking me in the eye.

I lowered my head. "He called me the son of a traitor."

Mother flinched, glancing at my father. I knew the story, he had left the village to kill my uncle and had been classified as a rogue ninja. But that was many years ago, before I was born. Everyone knows he came back and married my mother and then they had me. My father's no traitor.

"Sweetheart…"

"It's ok, Mom. They're just words, they don't mean anything."

I was surprised to see my mother wipe a tear away from her face. She almost never cries, the only time she does is when she couldn't save one of her patients at the hospital.

"You're right, Hon," she said, smiling again though I could tell she was faking it. "He's just a bully. Ignore him."

"Yes, Mom."

"And next up…Yuji Uchiha."

"Come on, Yu-chan! You can do it!"

I smiled nervously at Nagisa-chan while she cheered and waved from the back of the classroom. She's been calling me 'Yu-chan' since we were babies, it's embarrassing but I put up with it.

Iruka-sensei smiled encouragingly at me as I stepped up to the front of the class. "Ok, show us your clone jutsu."

I could do this, I'd practiced it with my father until I fell over from chakra depletion. I made the hand sign and breathed out, getting the energy to work in just the right way.

There was a poof, and I coughed once from the smoke but managed to keep the jutsu from unraveling. When the smoke cleared, I made my standard three clones bow to sensei and wave back to Nagisa-chan.

"Excellent job, Yuji. You pass."

The clones disappeared with another poof and the next thing I knew, Nagisa-chan was standing on a desk and whooping for me as Iruka-sensei handed my very own Leaf headband.

"Sit down, young lady," ordered sensei.

"Ha-ha! Yu-chan passed, Yu-chan passed!"

I took my seat next to her and pulled her back down off of the desk.

"Nagisa-chan, please calm down."

"Oh poo on you, you're too serious, Yu-chan! You just became a Genin, be happy about it!"

Her cheerfulness was always infectious. I smiled and played with my headband, watching the overhead lights glint off of it as the other students performed their pass-or-fail clone jutsu at the front of the class. Nagisa-chan was already wearing hers around her neck, it bounced and hit her chin every time she flung her arms in the air to shout something.

"Nagisa-chan, you're supposed to wear it on your head."

"Well if you think so, why don't you?"

Before I could answer, she had swiped my new headband and tied it around my forehead with a quick knot in the back.

"Aww," she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "You're so cute!"

I blushed a little in embarrassment, but I couldn't wait to show my parents. After the ceremony for the graduating class, I'd get to be on a team with two other rookie ninja and we'd be an official Genin squad!

I was jolted out of my daydreams by Nagisa-chan pulling my hair to get my attention. I batted her hand away, wincing a little.

"Nagisa-chan, it hurts when you do that."

"Well, maybe if you didn't wear it all long and swishy I wouldn't be able to! Anyways, class is over. C'mon, let's go!"

I followed her out of the slowly emptying classroom, though in my mind I tried to come up with a good comeback for the next time she teased me about my hair. I like it long, and she's called it girly ever since it reached my shoulders, but I keep it that way.

"Come on, Yu-chan!" she shouted, her sapphire-colored eyes bright with excitement. "Let's go to Ichiraku's to celebrate!"

Dad told me once she got her love of ramen from her father. That's the truth, I've never seen our Hokage eat anything but. Mom once told me the Fifth always had sake on her desk, the Sixth does the same but with cups of instant ramen. Why our village leaders seem to have weird addictions, I'll never know.

Not having much else to do, I followed Nagisa-chan in the direction of her favorite noodle stand. I couldn't really go home and study, there were no more exams to study for. No more homework, no more tests…I was going to like being a Genin.

"Yu-chan…"

I found Nagisa-chan standing just outside Ichiraku's with her lower lip stuck out in a pout as she whimpered, giving me huge puppy-eyes.

"Yu-chan…"

I sighed. "Yes, yes, I have money."

"Yay!" she squealed, and hugged me for the millionth time that day. She's always short on cash, her mother is the only one without a ramen addiction to feed.

The stand's owner always smiled at the sight of two dark heads entering, because it meant his second-favorite customer (her dad was the first) and her paying friend would undoubtedly sit there for hours doing whatever came into their heads.

"Nagisa-chan, welcome! You passed your exams, I see."

"Yup!" she announced, patting me on the head because I was a few inches shorter than her. "And so did Yu-chan!"

"Good job, you two," said Ayame, the owner's daughter. "The usual today?"

"You know it!"

"Yes please, Ayame-san."

Ayame smiled, she likes me because I'm always polite to her.

"Ok, it'll be ready in a minute."

"So Yu-chan," said Nagisa-chan when Ayame disappeared to do the cooking. "Why aren't you excited?"

I blinked. "What? I'm very excited."

"No you're not. You're a ninja now! A N-I-N-J-A!"

"I can spell, Nagisa-chan."

"Yeah, well you should give that big brain of yours a break and just celebrate," she said, knuckling me in the side of the head. She always made jokes about my inheriting my mother's smarts.

The old owner laughed from where he sat, Ayame does most of the cooking now since her dad retired.

"Reminds me of the day your father graduated," he said to Nagisa-chan. "Came straight here and ate 'till he could barely move!"

"Ha-ha! That's just like him!" she laughed, her indigo-violet pigtails bouncing when she giggled.

"Ok, you two. Here's your ramen," said Ayame, placing two steaming bowls in front of us.

"Oh boy!" squealed Nagisa-chan, almost snapping her chopsticks in half the wrong way in her eagerness. "Ramen, ramen, yum!"

"Don't make yourself sick," I warned, watching her scarf down the still-hot noodles. I eat like a normal person, meaning by the time I was done she had already eaten three bowls.

"Ahhh!" she exhaled. "That's some good stuff."

She continued to ramble about the deliciousness of ramen while I counted out the money I had with me, which turned out to be barely enough.

"Thank you, come again! Though you don't need any prompting, do you Nagisa?"

Nagisa-chan waved back to the owner and Ayame as we left, promising to come back the next day. Everyone in the village knows that's one promise she'd never break.

"Good day, eh, Yu-chan?" she asked, thumping me on the shoulder, which I only mildly preferred to having my hair pulled. She has a reputation for being one of the hardest hitters in our class for a reason.

"Yup. Good day."

I stopped, realizing Nagisa-chan had stopped walking. "Hmm? What's the mat-?"

"Uzumaki and Uchiha, sittin' in a tree…"

The two of us moaned in unison. "Tomoya…"

A dark shape dropped down from a tree in front of us, standing up to his full height, which was taller than even Nagisa-chan. His lavender-white eyes glared at us smugly as he sneered that way bullies do.

"S'matter, little boy?" he asked, looking me straight in the eye. "Your girlfriend gonna fight for you?"

"Yu-chan…"

I caught the message. After a moment of glaring back at Tomoya, we nodded and bolted into the air before each of us sped off in a different direction over the village rooftops.

I could only hope Tomoya had gone after Nagisa-chan. I might have been one of the best rookie ninja in my year, but Tomoya had been held back for several years on account of no teamwork skills. He was taller and heavier than me, unfortunately tipping the odds in a hand-to-hand fight in his favor. Nagisa-chan had that unfailing energy her father possessed, meaning she could run for hours at a time without tiring. I, on the other hand, could only sprint until my legs gave out.

Without losing time by looking behind me, I zoomed over slowly clearing streets. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the village. I could use this to my advantage.

I found an ideal place not too far from the Academy building, behind an old stable meant for keeping bulls in when important guests came to watch the Chunin exams. I darted into one of the storerooms, crouching down behind some bales of stale hay and hugging my knees to my chest, praying Tomoya wouldn't find me there.

I heard something rustling on the stalks of straw that littered the floor. I shivered silently, squinting through the darkness to see if it was Tomoya.

I breathed a sigh of relief when a small, black snake slithered over the worn dirt of the storeroom floor. My father summoned snakes, so I was used to them. I'd already decided when I learned to summon, I'd choose the same animal because I liked snakes almost as inexplicably much as he did.

I smiled through my anxiety at the little reptile as its path made a ring before slipping back off into the shadows back to where it had come from. I hoped there were no birds that would catch it, it deserved to live just as much as any other creature.

"Thought you could hide, little boy?"

I gasped when an ice-cold hand closed around my throat, hard enough to temporarily cut off my air. I bit Tomoya's hand, making him let go long enough for me to duck and roll out from under his grasp, jumping up and taking off in a run from the dilapidated old stable.

"Get back here, rat!"

I had no intention of obeying him.

Unfortunately, his being three years older than me gave him the advantage in a battle of speed. After only a few minutes of panicked scurrying through the darkening streets of the village, I found myself slammed face first against a wall as a pair of meaty hands held my arms against my back.

"You ready to die again, Ghost Boy?"

I said nothing, hoping he'd lose interest, though he never did. He called me Ghost Boy because of my pale skin. My mother always referred to it as "fair," which I eventually learned was just a nicer way of saying pale.

"Why don't ya scream? Maybe your girlfriend will come and save you."

I sincerely hoped Nagisa-chan was somewhere far away for her own safety.

"Don't you say nothing to me, boy," he hissed in my ear, making me shiver. "You little son of a traitor."

"My father's not a traitor!" I couldn't help growling. "He's captain of the ANBU and loyal to the Leaf village!"

"Silly, silly boy…" whispered Tomoya, out of the corner of my eyes I saw him grinning evilly. "I don't mean Uchiha, I mean your father."

"He is my father!" I protested in confusion, wriggling weakly in his crushing grip.

Tomoya laughed, though it held no humor at all, just pleasure in having me at his mercy. "Oh, wait…that's right…" he sneered. "You don't know."

I remained silent, sweat pouring down the back of my neck. His words didn't register, I only wanted to escape and run home to tell my parents I graduated.

"They never told you, did they…you never knew…but I found out, even though we weren't supposed to know…"

Now he had my attention, though I desperately wanted to concentrate on escaping but I just couldn't.

"Your mother, the poor, sweet Sakura Haruno…"

I flinched involuntarily when he used my mother's maiden name.

"…she loved Uchiha, didn't she?"

Of course she loved my father. That's why they got married.

"She loved him enough to go off on a harebrained mission to bring him back after he left the village…"

I've heard this story before. My father killed my uncle, and my mother and the future Sixth Hokage brought him back to the village.

"…So much, she even ventured into the old Sound village to bring him back…"

I know all this, my father told my mother he couldn't go back until my uncle was dead, and the rest is history. What's he getting at?

"…But of course, it wasn't Uchiha she met."

My eyes widened a little. What was he talking about?

"You remember the great Sannin from history class, don't you?"

Of course I do, I came top in that class. The Legendary Three, Tsunade, currently retired Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, who started the Sound village.

"Orochimaru, the one who tried to destroy the Leaf village, was of course by then long dead, as you know."

Of course he was dead, my father told me the story of how he killed him.

"But…his last follower certainly wasn't."

What's he talking about? The Sound was completely wiped out.

"Only a lone medic-nin remained of the once-feared Sound…the last survivor."

My face was beginning to turn numb from being pressed against the wall so long, and my arms ached from being held in an uncomfortable position.

"The way I heard it…" Tomoya said in a maniacal whisper, drawing each word out as long as possible. "He had saved DNA from the dead Sannin's original body after the first in a series of body switches, but you know all about that forbidden jutsu."

What's he talking about?

"The last shinobi loyal to the Sound…it's a pity your poor mother never knew what hit her.

I was breathing quickly now, held captive by Tomoya's grunted words as he continued.

"From what I found out…that last medic-nin, desperate to keep the Sound from dying out, knocked out your poor little mommy…"

I winced as I did at any mention of violence done to a family member.

"And, well…two cells are needed to form an offspring…"

I gasped when it clicked in my mind. "You're lying!"

Tomoya laughed a low, sinister cackle. "Oh, I wish I was, Ghost Boy! That last medic-nin artificially created Orochimaru's child from the Sannin's and your mother's DNA! Of course, there was no way she would consent to carrying it…so it was kept alive in an incubator because she didn't want it…"

His lies were too much, I already had unwanted tears rolling down my face as I shouted at him that he was lying.

"So of course, the moment Uchiha found out, he killed the last medic-nin after his own brother and waited with your mother until the baby was ready for the outside world…he married her only to claim the child as his own, though neither of them wanted the trouble of raising it."

"Stop it!" I shouted, shaking my head. "It's not true!"

"And do you know who the disgusting little baby grew up to be?"

My hands were still held against my back, but his other hand let go of my head, instead grabbing my shirtfront and lifting me up to his eye level, meaning I was dangling a good several inches above the ground.

"Can you guess who the sick, unwanted, bone-white baby became?" he hissed, looking me right in the eye. I saw my reflection in the steel of his headband, my wide, jade-colored eyes staring back at me from my terrified-looking face. A face with skin the color of snow.

Tomoya smirked and said nothing, merely letting go of me so I fell in a heap at his feet, hearing a small snap as a jolt of pain shot through my knee. I lay there, curled up in a tiny ball of wretchedness as I heard his smug footsteps slowly fade away into the darkness of the night.

"Yuji? Yuji, wake up! Wake up, Sweetheart!"

I opened my eyes slowly, at first seeing only a massive pink blur. I blinked, and suddenly I realized I was lying on my back and my mother was crouched next to me, shaking me gently by the shoulder. The sky overhead was no longer a midnight-blue, but a pale blue-and-pink of approaching dawn. At seeing me awake, my mother's emerald eyes, the same color as mine, lit up as she smiled, overjoyed.

"Oh, Sweetie! You're ok! What happened? We were so worried when you didn't come home, we've been looking all over for you!"

"Mama?" I whispered stupidly, still blinking as she propped me up against the wall Tomoya-

My eyes widened. "Tomoya!" I blurted out in a raspy exclamation.

"Did he do this to you?"

I blinked wide-eyed to hear my father's voice, turning my aching head to see him crouched on my other side, still wearing his ANBU uniform, the rising sun sending streaks of pink and yellow across his spiky, ebony locks.

"Yuji, did that boy do this to you?" he asked. I could tell he was furious, but not at me. At Tomoya.

I nodded slowly, feeling the dried salt on my cheeks from previous tears crack as I winced, pain shooting through the leg I had fallen on after Tomoya dropped me.

"Stay still, Sweetie," my mother murmured, her hands emitting a green glow over my bruised knee as the pain slowly disappeared. "Tell us everything."

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. All I could do was stare dumbly as my mother finished healing my leg and looked up expectantly.

I turned my head toward my father, looking into his coal-black eyes with every ounce of trust I had in my tiny body.

"Dad?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse. "Do you love me?"

My father blinked in surprise at the question, before laying a hand on my head and ruffling my hair. "Of course, Yuji. That's why I'm going to have a word with that boy's parents. Something has to be done about his rampages."

"But…" I continued, looking at my mother instead. "Would you love me even if I wasn't yours?"

I felt a lead weight of dread drop onto my stomach when my parents flinched.

"Yuji…" murmured my father, continuing to muss the top of my head. "You're our little boy. We'd love you no matter where you came from."

"What did that boy say to you, Sweetie?" asked my mother, producing a cloth and wiping some of the dirt off my face. Even though the gesture usually made me squirm, I remained motionless as she dabbed at my face.

"I'm not yours, am I?"

It was a statement, not a question. I closed my eyes as fresh tears began to fall when no words were said for a few minutes.

"I'm not an Uchiha. I'm the son of the one who tried to destroy the Leaf village."

I heard my mother gasp. When I opened my eyes halfway again, I saw her covering her mouth with her hand as my father practically shook with livid anger at the one who had told me this.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked in a sad whisper.

"Oh, Sweetie…"

My mother was crying again as she hugged me just the way she used to when I was little and having a nightmare.

"I'm so sorry, Yuji…" she sobbed. "We wanted you to grow up happy, without the pain and sorrow of being rejected for what you are…"

"Mama…Mama, please don't cry…" I whispered.

"Yuji…" I watched my father shake his head. "It doesn't matter who shares your genes. You're Yuji Uchiha. You're my son, and I care about you just as much as if you had half of me inside you."

"Dad…Mom…But…"

"Your mother fought for your life, you know…" my father muttered, his gaze seemingly fixed on something far-off in the distance. "Everyone she knew wanted you dead, but she wouldn't let them kill you. You were her baby, and she loved you no matter who your father was…"

My mother had managed to stop crying, and was only sniffling quietly as she occasionally hiccupped, still squeezing me in a tight hug.

"When you were born, Yuji…I stood my your mother's side, holding her hand as the machine that had given you life shut down…when it gave you to us you were small, stinky, and screaming at the top of your lungs. But we loved you so, so much, because you were our little boy…"

"Oh, Sweetie…" my mother whispered. "I don't know how that boy found out…the children weren't supposed to know, so you wouldn't be isolated…we only wanted you to feel like you belonged. If…if you had been rejected by them as well, I…I don't know what I would've done…Yuji…"

"Mom…it's ok," I whispered. "I know you love me. If you didn't, I wouldn't be here right now."

As my mother tried desperately to stop crying, I glance again at my father. The man who held me as I took my first steps. The one who comforted my mother when I threw toddler tantrums about anything and everything. The one who stayed out late with me in the training fields, helping me get better than anyone else in my class at throwing knives at tiny red pillows. The one who made me study so I'd pass tests I had put off until the last minute. The one who sat by my bedside, sword in hand, to protect me from any monsters I believed were living under my bed, and tucked me in when I finally fell asleep.

If that wasn't love, I don't know what is.

"I love you, Dad."

"Yuji…" he said, patting my head again. "I wouldn't trade you for anything else."

That's his special way of saying he loves me too.

"Come on," murmured my father, he and my mother helping me to my feet. "Let's go home. You're a mess."

"It's a good thing the Genin squad announcements don't start until tomorrow…C'mon, Sweetheart, how about you take a nice, long bath and I'll make sushi, how's that?"

I smiled for both of them. Because even though I'm only biologically related to one of them, they're my parents and I know they'll take care of me.

"Oh, Yuji? Your mother has something to tell you."

"Sweetheart…do you think you might be up to the task of being a big brother?"

Of course, Mom. After everything you've done for me, I'd do anything you'd ever ask of me.

Because that's what families do for each other.

The end!

Because Kabuto is an Orochi-loving anus-hole who would totally pull a cheap stunt like this. For those of you who read the manga, you KNOW this is true after his little "plastic surgery..."

(sniffle) happy ending blah...Don't really know where this came from, other than the fact I had the idea for a short, skinny little guy I doodled once and thought, "Eh, every other character in Naruto had some unhappy childhood/true parents being revealed/bizarre birth circumstance, so eh, why not this guy?" It's my fandom invading when I decided to chuck him into a fanfic as Sakura's ickle boy. Hope you liked!

(ahem...I DO NOT SUPPORT OROxSAKU! Everybody reading this KNOWS she and Sasu will get married and make little Uchihas, if not in canon then in our imaginations FOREVER. NYAH.)