Title: Hush

By: Evangeline-sama

Rating: T

Warnings: Child abuse and neglect implied.

Summary: The family was perfect in an almost sickening way. Strong, handsome father; sweet, gentle mother; young, rambunctious son; and a pretty, newborn daughter. But no room at all for the bastard child. AU


The sky shone blue and soft clouds rolled across the azure expanse. The tall, majestic trees waved their branches in the quiet breeze, their leaves rasping together to creating a soothing melody that was accentuated with the muted songs of the birds. A slim figure lay sprawled under one of the trees, a billowing black cloak wrapped snugly around the lithe body. A wide brimmed straw hat covered the dozing face while brown feathered sparrows hopped around on the lush grass. Nearby, a crystal brook gurgled softly, adding its noises to the music of the glen.

A black booted foot crushed the thick grass under the weight of the thick leather. An intruding toe gave a harsh nudge to the ribs of the reclining figure. "Oy, baka! Get up!" The sleeping person gave an annoyed grunt and tipped back the wide brimmed hat with a hand clad in a black biker glove. An elfin face was revealed and a bright blue eye glared at the tall figure standing over him.

"Did you have to kick me you bastard?" grumbled the boy as he stood up in fluid, graceful motion. "Besides, what's the rush? We have all the time in the world, Kisame." Kisame chuckled heartily and gave the boy a hearty slap, sending him face first into the ground.

"No reason," said Kisame. "I just felt like kicking you awake, pretty boy. Now stop sulking and get going."

"Bastard," he snapped, as he pulled back the wide brimmed hat, white blonde hair falling in artfully spiked locks around the delicate face. "I'm not a pretty boy, Kisame… and I don't sulk!" Saying that, he turned around abruptly and stalked off childishly, the black cloak embroidered with red clouds swirling around him in a dramatic fashion, which would have been impressive… if he had not stepped on his own cloak and fallen flat on his face.

Kisame laughed at the comical display of boy sprawled on the ground in an undignified heap. "You're such an idiot, Naruto!"

The blond glared hotly at Kisame, his face a mask of comical anger. Sniffing angrily, he brushed the dust off his black clothing with sharp movements. "Well, at least I'm good looking," said Naruto with a toss of his blond hair. "Unlike fish-face that I know, I have no trouble at getting anyone that I want." Laughing, Naruto started running as Kisame threatened to disembowel him. Really, the man was so easy to anger!


Yonna smiled nervously as she clenched the small box tightly in her hands. Her soft brown hair curled sweetly around her heart shaped face still round with baby fat. Her shy amber eyes peered out bashfully from under thick lashes. "Umm… ano… Kinsuke-kun, t-th-this is… umm… f-for you!" stuttered Yonna as she blushed hotly. She held the gift wrapped box and looked timidly upwards. "I've been i-in l-l-l…" She paused as the hot blush covered her face and her neck. Her head drooped down.

"Ahhh! I can't do it aniki! Why can't you give it to Mikio for me," yelled Yonna as threw the gift onto the ground. She gave her older brother a pleading look and clasped her slim hands underneath her chin. With a sigh, the tall ebony haired man before her wavered briefly before he disappeared in a burst of smoke, replaced by a shorter teen with shaggy hair.

"No way! If I do, then his fangirls will see and they'll give me hell! They'd think that I was in love with Mikio or something!" said her brother defensively, his green eyes boring into the soft brown ones of his sister. "Besides, I don't like Mikio anyways! He's like eight-hundred years older than you!

"He's only five years older, Akishi! Mikio-kun is the same age as you, even though he's a thousand times nicer and stronger than you, baka aniki!" yelled Yonna as she scooped up her gift and continued, "You're so mean, Akishi, I-I hate you!" saying that, Yonna swirled around and ran out of her brother's room.

Akishi looked dumbfounded at his sister's disappearing figure and ran a hand through his hair. Girls were such mysteries… With a shrug he sat down at his desk and began to finish the scroll for sensei. Dragging his bamboo brush through the black ink, he sloppily made a few more paragraphs before tying it up with some string. Yawning, he stood up and stretched as he caught his own image in the mirror. Grinning, he tugged on his flak jacket and stood in a casual pose before the full length mirror.

At sixteen years old, he was the epitome of a hot male (or so he though). With wild dirty blonde hair, sensual green eyes, and a seriously hot body (if he said so himself), he was most definitely a handsome guy… So why didn't he have a freaking girlfriend yet?!

As the son and heir of the Yondaime Hokage, he should have had dozens of girls lining up at his door, all begging to date him, so why didn't he?! "It's all that jerk's fault," grumbled Akishi. True, while he did have modest fan base, the jerk had a much larger one, and he always rubbed it in too! Akishi sighed and tried to banish the gloomy thoughts out of his head, choosing instead to dwell upon the dozens of photos stuck into the thick frame of his mirror.

Akishi had always obsessed over photographs. Ever since he had been given his first camera when he was four years old, he had become almost obsessed with documenting any and all events with the camera. Thus, over the years he had accumulated several photo books full of precious memories. His favorite photos were then stuck onto his mirror so that he could see them everyday and not have to look for them.

With a fond grin, he gently eased out one of the older photographs he had. It had been taken by a family friend when Yonna had only been a few months old. The picture had become quite worn around the edges, but the images were still clear. It was one of his favorite family portraits since it was the only informal one. His immediate family- mom, dad, and Yonna- were gathered on a checkered blanket under one of the cherry trees on the estate, their home, the Kazama estate, stood proudly in the background. Gathered around the quintet was the rest of the family.

While the Kazama family were not as old as the Hyuuga or the Uchiha, they were still powerful within Konohagakure no Sato, mainly because the current head, Kazama Arashi, was the hokage. Thus, even though the clan itself was very small- only 10 people, with the majority of them adopted- and there was no powerful kekkai genkai in the bloodline, the family was well respected.

With a soft smile, Akishi gently traced the faces of the people beaming out at him from the picture. Standing tall and glowing with a vibrant face was the Yondaime hokage, his father. Standing next to him was his mother- a sweet woman with soft brown hair streaked with blonde and soulful green eyes- clutching Yonna, who was bundled up in a soft terry cloth of pink patterned with white rabbits. Gathered around them was the rest of the family: his adopted siblings, Iruka (whose parents had been killed in the Kyuubi attack sixteen years ago) and Anko (who had been betrayed by her sensei, the sannin Orochimaru); his adopted sister Koizumi (another orphan from the kyuubi attack) and her husband of ten years, and their twins, who were being held by his five year old self.

Nostalgically, he tucked the photo back into his mirror frame and looked cursorily over the rest of the pictures that showed off a growing Yonna, the birth of his younger brother (only two years younger than Yonna), and other such important events. Yet, he felt as if there was something missing that should be there. With a frown, Akishi tapped his lower lip and he looked more carefully at the pictures. He knew that all the events of his life, both major and minor, were there, yet looking at them, there seemed to be something absent that should have been there.

The soft chime of the clock broke him from his reverie, and stretching a bit, he turned back to look a the ornate clock hanging above his bed. He froze. "Ah hell no! I'm late! Sensei's gonna skin me alive!" he yelped as he grabbed his hastily written scroll off his desk and ran out of his room, the door slamming shut, and dislodging the picture of his family that he had just looked at. The ten figures printed on the glossy figure looked out at the world with frozen features, backed by the clan house that was partially hidden by majestic sakura blossom trees. However, if one looked carefully, a small window where the attic would be could be made out, partially obscured by the abundant pink blossoms. A white chintz curtain and a pale hand, almost blending into the cloth, peeked out of the wooden frame, almost invisible from behind the profusion of pink blooms.


A/N: Wow… it took me forever to update… sorry bout that. But I had trouble deciding which way the story should go… I wasn't sure if I wanted an Akatsuki!Naruto or a Sound!Naruto… so… I'm letting you guys decide! This is the Akatsuki one, and I'll put up a sound one later (hopefully by the end of the month, but no guarantees), so you guys can choose which one you want. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and please review!

PS: I'm still not sure, but I'm probably not going to have any pairings at all for this story, but if you guys want a pairing, just put it in your review, or e-mail me your request, and any questions you may have. Ja!