Tatsuo groaned as his father – as much as he hated to admit it, Gai was – pushed open the door to his apartment. Amaya laughed and clapped her hands, squirming in her brother's arms. Tatsuo reluctantly set her down and watched carefully as she ran around the apartment excitedly.
"Tatty!" she cried. "Look at this!"
Tatsuo trudged over to where she stood holding a conch shell pressed to her ear.
"Ah!" Gai announced. "You have found my magic conch! If you listen carefully, you can hear the ocean."
Tatsuo strode over to the bright blue couch in the middle of the room, sinking down into the cushions.
It was several minutes later before Amaya started yawning, and several more until she crawled into Tatsuo's lap and closed her eyes with another yawn. Tatsuo held her close as her breathing evened out.
"Why did you leave Mom?" he asked quietly. Gai paused in his act of looking through drawers, then resumed.
"I had no choice," he answered. "Kiku have ne two choices: one, stay with her and raise you, or two, leave and never see her again."
Gai chuckled. "Of course, I saw her again. But I knew that I would be a horrible parent and I didn't want to ruin your childhood." The spandex-wearing man stood up abruptly. "You and your sister will be staying in the guest room until something else is figured out."
Tatsuo followed his father after picking up Amaya gently. She stirred sleepily before returning to her dreams.
"I have a previous appointment, but make yourself at home," Gai said after opening the guest room door.
"Yeah. Sure," Tatsuo said, laying Amaya on the bed. She mumbled something he couldn't hear.
Gai left and the raven could hear his father shuffle around the living room a moment longer before the apartment door opened and closed.
Tatsuo was alone.
He almost exited the room when his sister cried out miserably, and he rushed back to her side. "Amaya," he whispered urgently. She moaned once more before her eyes fluttered open.
Tatsuo embraced her as she sobbed into his shirt. "Tatty," she whispered. "Promise me you won't leave like Mama did."
He blinked back tears at the thought of his mother and rested his chin on top of his sister's head."I promise," he whispered.
He stroked her hair and murmured comforting words to her until Amaya fell asleep again. Carefully, he set her on the bed and straightened, heading towards the door.
Once in the living room he sat on the couch and stared at the horrid brown carpet. Why did his mother have to die? If only they had gotten to Konoha in time; Tsunade would have surely been able to cure her of the disease. But no, they had not made it, and Kiki's last words had been for them to find her family and their dad. Tatsuo didn't have the heart to defy her.
There was a knock on the door, and Tatsuo got up to answer it. He opened the door without checking the see who it was.
Two teens stood there, one dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit, the other clothed in black. The raven had good taste…
"Where's Bushy Brow-sensei?" the orange teen asked anxiously, standing on tiptoe to see over Tatsuo's shoulder.
"Dad's not here right now," He grit his teeth, barely refraining from punching the blonde in the face. From the headband, he was a ninja. He wasn't.
"Really? Gai-sensei had kids?" the blonde asked. The raven his companion over the head harshly.
"Idiot!" he said. "Naruto, that's rude. Don't say things like that."
"Sorry, Sasuke." The blonde, Naruto, pouted and rubbed his sore head. "No need for violence."
Sasuke shook his head and stepped past Tatsuo. Naruto followed with a grin, leaving Tatsuo standing in the doorway. He blinked and shut the door.
"Gai-sensei has an awesome apartment!" Naruto said. Tatsuo grunted. There was no way in hell he would say that this apartment was anything close to awesome.
"So, who are you exactly?" Naruto inquired, sprawling out on the couch.
"Tatsuo Nakadai."
"Cool name. I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Naruto nodded over to Sasuke. "Mr. Emo over there is Sasuke Uchiha.'
Sasuke said nothing, just lifted a hand in greeting.
"How exactly did Gai-sensei and your mom meet?" Naruto questioned, and Sasuke shot him a glare. Tatsuo lifted a brow; he was starting to like this guy.
"Why exactly are you here?" he countered.
"I had to ask Gai-sensei a question about training. Now you," Naruto prompted.
Tatsuo sighed and sat down in an arm chair – which was a disgusting yellow color. What was with his dad and his weird color choices?
"My mom left Konoha about twenty years ago—"
"Why did she leave Konoha?" Naruto interrupted, and Tatsuo's eyes darkened in frustration.
"I'll get to that, okay? Anyways, she settled down in the Land of Iron and found work as a shopkeeper's assistant. Dad met her while he was on a mission a few years later," Tatsuo concluded. Naruto gaped at him.
"That's it?"
"No, there's more, you just weren't specific enough."
Sasuke's lips tilted up into a smirk, probably the closest he had come to smiling in his life.
"Okay, then. Why did your mom leave Konoha?"
Tatsuo's gaze dropped to the carpet and he stood up abruptly. "Let me go wake my sister. She needs to know this, too."
Amaya was still sleeping, oblivious to the surprise guests in the living room. Tatsuo shook her awake and when she opened her amber eyes sleepily, he smiled at her. "Come on, sleepyhead. There are some people I want you to meet."
He set her down in his lap when he was back in his arm chair. Amaya yawned and snuggled closer to her older brother.
"Aww!" Naruto cooed. "She's so cute!"
Tatsuo ignored him. "Amaya, this is Sasuke and Naruto."
Amaya opened her eyes halfway and glanced at the two teens. "Hi," she said shyly, before her eyes slipped closed again.
"You know," Naruto mused. "She looks a little like Shikamaru." He cocked his head. "Actually, a lot like Shikamaru."
"That's the thing. My –our –mom was a Nara."
A/N: I have had this chapter written for, like, ever. I decided that since I had some time I would type it up and post it. I would like some reviews…please?